


What Are The Chances

by Beanno28



Series: What Are The Chances [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 1D Big Bang round 3, Accidental Pregnancy, Domestic Violence, Eventual Smut, Famous Harry, Friends to Lovers, Liam Payne & Louis Tomlinson Friendship, M/M, Mpreg, Non-Famous Louis Tomlinson, OC Louis' Mother, Slow Build Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Slow Burn, not between Harry/Louis, only lightly, side Ziam
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-05-18
Packaged: 2021-02-19 14:10:14
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 20
Words: 63,126
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22912267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beanno28/pseuds/Beanno28
Summary: Louis Tomlinson is a single father, struggling to get by with no help from his ex. Harry Styles is a famous singer looking for a little normalcy in his life. What will happen when their two worlds collide in the most unexpected way possible?
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Louis Tomlinson/Original Male Character(s), Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Series: What Are The Chances [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646815
Comments: 47
Kudos: 226
Collections: One Direction Big Bang Round 3





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Wow, I can't believe I am finally getting to do this and post this labour of love. This was the very first fic I ever started and I am excited to finally share it with you. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Please don't forget to leave a kudos and a comment letting me know what you thought.
> 
> I encourage you all to check out [Marie](https://p-a-s-m-w-a.tumblr.com/) on Tubmlr. She is the person behind this amazing art work, go let her know how great she is. Thank you so much for stepping up at the last minute and making this amazing piece for my fic.
> 
> A big thank you goes to my amazing Beta [Lynda](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard#) for sticking with me through this whole process and being so supportive.
> 
> As always, a special thanks to [Megz](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard#) for being the greatest BFF a girl could ask for. Thank you for getting me into this wonderful world and putting up with all my ideas and neediness.
> 
> Lastly, thank you so much to the mods of this fest. If not for you I wouldn't have finished or posted this fic.

It was late on a Friday night in a small town just outside the city and Louis was busy wiping down the coffee and hot chocolate machines before tackling the tedious task of putting them back together. It was rather slow in his mum’s coffee shop that evening and after a long week with his daughter, Mia, a good night’s sleep was just what Louis needed. If completing all of the cleaning duties before closing time meant he could close the shop and be sleeping by midnight, then he was determined to work as quickly as he could.

As he pulled out a couple stacks of cups and inserted them into their holders, he couldn’t help but think of how thankful he was for everything his mum, Cathy, has done for him and Mia. She wasn’t particularly thrilled with the fact that Louis was not only pregnant, but also the idea that he was planning on keeping his baby with his then boyfriend, Alex. Still, she gave him a job at her coffee shop to help him earn what he could to support her granddaughter.

When things between the couple began to go south and Louis reluctantly approached his mum about his limited options, she never hesitated in helping him out. His mum never had a lot, especially having seven kids of her own, but she decided to convert the office above the shop into a one bedroom apartment so Louis could raise his daughter on his own. Not only did she give them a place to stay but she allowed Louis to work around Mia’s schedule. Since his daughter was only two, Louis depended on Alex to pick her up and watch her every other weekend so that he could work. While he appreciated all the sacrifices his mum had made, he dreamed of the day he was independent. More than anything, he really wanted to find a proper place for them to live, somewhere that had a park nearby for Mia to play until the sun went down. He also hoped that one day he would be able to find a better job and give Mia everything her little heart desired.

Focused on cleaning, Louis didn’t hear the ding of the bell, indicating someone had come into the shop. “Hello.” A man’s deep voice reclaimed his attention.

“Oh hi, I’m so sorry I didn’t hear you come in. I’ll be with you in just a moment.” he said as he finished pushing the last of the cups into their slot and went to the sink to wash his hands.

“It’s alright, take your time,” the man said. “I’m not in a big rush tonight.”

Louis dried his hands before he turned around to look at the customer. “What can I get for you today sir?” he asked as he stared straight into the man’s eyes. _Oh wow, he thought to himself, that looks an awful lot like Harry Styles but there is no way Harry Styles would ever find his way into this tiny little shop though, right?_ I mean there wasn’t much around here for a famous pop star to do. Besides, he had never seen a picture of him wearing baggy sweats and a hoodie with a baseball cap before. Every picture his best friend, Liam, showed him, Harry always dressed in a pair of black skinny jeans and a t-shirt from some old band that Louis generally never cared too much about. What Liam would do right now if he knew. But it couldn’t really be _the_ Harry Styles, could it? 

“Could I just get a coffee please? Also, do you happen to have any scones?” maybe Harry asked, interrupting Louis’ thoughts. He reached up and removed his hat and set it on the counter top near the cash register, waiting for the smaller man to answer.

“We have a-a few scones left in the display case right over here,” he stammered, moving toward the enclosed glass display counter and pointing. “A couple of cheese and one raisin is all we have left at this time of night... They tend to be popular with the older men that come in for their afternoon tea. Oh, uh, what size would you like for your coffee, sir?” He rambled.

“I will try a cheese scone, please, and could I trouble you to put some butter on it for me? And I guess I will just have a small coffee. Likely a good idea if I plan on getting any sleep tonight.” he answered with a very calm, monotone voice. “And please, call me Harry, I always feel so old when people call me sir.” Harry smiled.

He looked him directly in the eyes. “Of course, H-Harry,” he stuttered, using a small square of wax paper to grab a cheese scone and carry it over to the sandwich counter. He cut it in half and slathered some butter on both halves before he placed both halves back together. “Would you like this for here or to go?”

“I’ll have it here if you don’t mind my company for a little while,” Harry said as he looked around the little shop, noticing they were the only two people inside. 

Louis gently placed the buttered scone on a plate and took out a small china mug and filled it with coffee and set them on the counter beside Harry’s hat. “Milk and sugar are over on the counter at the end.” Louis directed Harry with his hand. “Enjoy,” Louis told him with a smile after he rang his order in the register and put Harry’s money neatly away inside the till before shutting the drawer. “There are a few magazines and some books, I think, on that table over there if you are in need of something to read.” Louis told him as he pointed to a table in the middle of the dining section of the tiny shop.

Harry thanked the blue eyed man very much and took a seat near the rear of the shop at a cozy little table for two. This place was perfect, exactly what he needed right now. He has been on the road touring for awhile now and was tired of all the media and fans and everyone constantly watching his every move. He needed just a couple of hours to feel like a normal person again before he felt like he might actually go insane; a moment to slip by unnoticed and unseen by a camera or some crazed fan. He really did love his job and loves his fans - he loved how happy he could make them when he ran into them on the street, or the feeling he got when they sang the words to his songs back to him while he was on stage. Heck, he even loved how much his fans thought they really knew about him, as annoying as it got sometimes.

Harry picked up the scone and took a bite as he relaxed into his chair and watched as the man behind the counter picked up a cloth and wiped the counter where his food had been prepared. “This scone is delicious… I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name,” Harry politely said.

Louis stood up straight, stopping what he was doing and looked in Harry’s direction, “Who, me?” he asked awkwardly, still not believing that Harry Styles himself walked into his mum’s shop and is attempting to make small talk with him. 

“Well, no one else is here, silly.” Harry giggled and smirked back at him. 

“Louis,” he simply stared debating whether he should try to take a quick picture of Harry and text it to Liam. Harry was his favourite singer after all, and what kind of best friend would he be if he didn’t. “My name is Louis, and my mum makes all the scones we sell here herself.” He thanked him for the compliment and put his cell phone back in his pocket, deciding to give Harry his privacy. “I will pass along the compliment though.”

“What a lovely name, Louis. I’ve never met a Louis before and I have met a lot of people.”

“I bet you have,” Louis giggled, before tilting his head with curiosity “What brings you here to our little coffee shop, if you don’t mind me asking. I mean it’s not every day we have a famous pop star like Harry Styles walk in.”

“I don’t mind a little conversation,” Harry turned his chair to face him. “I just needed some time to myself, a little quiet time away from all the cameras and screaming is all. Don’t get me wrong, I adore all of my fans. It’s just that sometimes a person needs peace and quiet, a normal conversation that isn’t about work or someone wanting something from you. It is rather refreshing actually,” Harry said rather honestly.

Louis finished wiping all the counters and rinsed his cloth clean. He threw the wet cloth over the sink to dry before walking around from behind the counter and grabbing the broom. “I get that, it must be difficult sometimes - always having to be “on”, so to speak. I feel that way often, sometimes I just wish I could get away and have a day to myself. No one asking me for anything or expecting anything of me, maybe even not having to wake up to do anything in particular.” Louis lazily swept the floor, imagining what such a day might actually feel like. 

“Absolutely,” Harry responds enthusiastically. “I mean, I love what I do and I really appreciate everything my fans do and enjoy meeting them everywhere and anywhere. I have just been working so much these last couple of years. I want some time off to be me and not in the spotlight. Like you said, a day to myself where no one wants or needs anything; where I can get up when I want and do what I want for the whole day.” He stared off into a daze, transfixed.

Louis had just finished clearing the display cases for the night when he heard the bell on the door ding as it opened with a rough bang, making him jump once more.

“Hey Louis, I thought that maybe I could just drop Mia off here tonight and you could close the shop early. You know, you could put your own daughter to bed yourself and then help me relieve some of the stress she’s caused me today,” Alex said as he barged in, not even looking around or seeming to care if anyone else was in the shop.

“Umm... Hi Alex,” Louis awkwardly said as he glanced in Harry’s direction “First of all, you know I can’t close the shop early. Secondly, there is actually a customer here right now,” He nodded his head in Harry’s direction. “Also, it is your night to have _our_ daughter because you know I have to work. Mia should have been in bed hours ago,” Louis responded, rubbing his face in annoyance.

“I know she should have, but I was stressed and thought you could be just the thing to help with that.” Alex winked at Louis as he handed over a very sleepy Mia. Louis gently placed Mia in an armchair and covered her up with her blanket that she carried everywhere. He placed a kiss on her forehead as he spoke to her. “Hey baby girl, Daddy missed you, sweetheart.”

“Daddy... Sleep, please?” Mia quietly asked in a sleepy voice.

“Yes sweetheart, you close your eyes and go to sleep. Daddy will carry you up to bed when I finish talking to Papa, okay?” he assured as Mia allowed her eyes to close and let herself drift off to sleep.

Louis turned himself back to where Alex still stood waiting for a response. He winked at Louis, “Well, what do you say... I don’t even have to stay the night. It’ll only take a couple minutes. We can even just go into the back while she’s sleeping,” Alex suggested with want in his eyes.

“Are you actually being serious right now, Alex?” Louis whispered quietly, trying to not wake up his daughter and hoping Harry wouldn’t overhear what Alex was suggesting.

“Never more serious, honey,” Alex said, moving closer to Louis and placing his hands on his hips, pulling him closer to himself. 

Louis gave him a look of complete disgust. “ _No_ ,” Louis said, louder than he planned as he pushed Alex away from him. “Don’t you ever call me honey again. You know that when I left we broke up, and that means I am not at your beck and call anymore. Alex, you can’t come over whenever you want. Our only relationship now is co-parenting Mia.” he said, angry that Alex actually thought he would leave their daughter in the front of the shop with a complete stranger and give him a quickie in back.

“But baby, you were so good, and I miss your mouth and your body.” He slowly moved toward Louis again as Louis took a few more steps backwards, away from Alex. “I mean, look what you have already done to me.” He looked down between his legs at the bulge that had already started growing, before he looked back up into Louis’ eyes with a wide smirk all over his face.

“Oh my god Alex, you need to leave, just get out of here.” Louis was completely disgusted at this point. He was also feeling embarrassed, how could this possibly be happening tonight of all nights. Louis is beyond tired of this song and dance Alex played often and wished more than anything that there was a way someone else could watch Mia. She deserved to be loved by someone, someone more reliable, someone more committed to her, someone that would give her the world.

Alex continued his advances and moved closer toward Louis again, this time grabbing his ass and letting out a low growl. “Come on Louis, I know you haven’t gotten any since we’ve been apart. I thought you’d be happy that I came to you with my little problem instead of going to any of the other guys that have been begging me to come over tonight.”

“Excuse me! You thought this would make me happy?” Louis was trying his best to keep his voice down while still portraying how upset he was at whatever Alex was trying to pull. He didn’t want Mia to wake up or have any idea about what was currently happening around her. “I left you because you are a complete ass and treated me like shit. You no longer need to worry about my personal life as it isn’t any of your business who I have or haven’t been sleeping with. Please just leave.” Louis could feel Alex’s grip tighten around him. Louis tried to push his elbows between their bodies so he could make some space between them. He wasn’t comfortable with how far he was being pushed tonight and was beginning to struggle to get away.

Harry watched as Louis put forth great effort to try and get out of Alex’s grasp and couldn’t sit on the side lines anymore. He got up, walked over and looked right in Alex’s eyes. “Alex is it? I believe this young man has repeatedly asked you to leave. I think it would be wise if you listen to him before things go any further,” Harry said as he stared Alex down.

Alex let go of Louis’ ass, but didn’t move to leave. “Just a little lover’s quarrel - you know how guys are, am I right, mate?” Alex smiled at Harry.

“No, I have no idea what you’re talking about. Leave before I call the police.” Harry said firmly.

“No need to get them involved.” Alex put his hands up and backed away from them both. He looked at Louis as he backed toward the door. “You can deal with _your_ daughter then.” Alex hissed as he walked out the door. “Don’t even think about letting her call me Papa or calling me for anything. I’m done with both of you. Have fun doing it alone, bitch.”

As the door to the shop slammed shut, Louis looked at his daughter still curled up sleeping peacefully, with an ache in his heart and tears threatening to roll down his cheeks. Then he quickly looked towards Harry still standing next to him. “I am so sorry about that, Mr. Styles. Your next coffee and scone is on me,” he said as he tried his best to hold everything inside and throw Harry a smile.

“Come on, Louis, it’s just you and me here now. She’s asleep and safe,” he nodded toward Mia, who was curled up and sleeping peacefully. “You don’t need to give me anything. I just stepped in to help before things went any further,” Harry explained, watching Louis’ expression carefully.

“You shouldn’t have had to see that. He was supposed to have her until after her nap tomorrow. It is my weekend to work,” Louis said, his emotions slipping through no matter how hard he tried to stay calm.

“It’s okay, Lou, really,” Harry rubbed his shoulder, hoping his nickname would go unnoticed. “Let me pack up my stuff and get out of your way. You probably want to close up and put that little one to bed anyway,” he told Louis, before going to pick up his belongings. He gently placed his dirty plate and coffee cup on the counter before resting his hat on his head and pulling his hoodie over top.

“Thank you.” Louis just watched Harry walk towards the door. “I mean - for stopping Alex.” A tear ran down his face. “You really didn’t have to do that... I’m sure I would have been okay,” Louis wiped his eyes with the back of his hand.

“It was nothing, nothing any normal human being wouldn’t have done anyway.” Harry opened the door and looked over his shoulder once more. “Take care of yourself and Mia, yeah?” he said as he stepped back out onto the street. “Maybe I’ll see you again.”

Just like that, Harry was gone. Not exactly how Louis had ever expected to meet a celebrity. Louis locked up the shop behind Harry and watched him walk down the street in darkness. _Liam will never believe me when I tell him that I met Harry Styles and that he saved me from Alex’s shit, Louis thought to himself._ He shook his head and let his thoughts focus on quickly finishing closing the shop so he could take Mia upstairs to bed. As he finished, he found himself quietly promising her that he was going to fix things and make everything better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this, if so leave a kudos and a comment about what you liked.
> 
> Head over and check out my [Tumblr](https://beanno28.tumblr.com/) and follow me for more fics coming soon. Feel free to check out more of my fics [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beanno28/works).
> 
> Another reminder to check out [Court](https://www.tumblr.com/dashboard#) and more of her art work.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Louis yawned as he opened his eyes. He immediately reached for his phone on the table beside him, thankful he remembered to plug it in before falling asleep. Turning off the alarm before unlocking it, he smiled at his background, a photo of his beautiful princess. Mia was always on his mind, his entire life revolved around the precious little girl sleeping in her bed in their only bedroom. It was only fitting that his first thought today was about her. He had to work in an hour and was hopeful that Liam would come through for him once again. He quickly typed out a message to his best friend.

_Morning Li_

_Hope you had a great night last night. I miss hanging out with you, feels like forever you know. Anyway, I am hoping you can help me out today. I need someone to watch Mia, I work in an hour. Please Li…..I’ll explain later._

_Lou x_

After hitting send, Louis dragged his sleepy self to the bathroom to relieve himself and have a quick shower. Tying a towel tight around his waist he wandered into the hallway and quietly into the bedroom grabbing a clean pair of boxers and squeezing into his last clean pair of jeans, tiptoeing back out of the room so as not to wake Mia up just yet. She had gotten to bed so late last night that he knew he really needed to leave her to sleep as long as he possibly could so she would be in a good mood when he brought her downstairs to work with him.

Louis went over to the tiny kitchen and turned on the kettle for tea and threw some bread into the toaster for breakfast. He walked back over to where he left his phone. He hadn’t received a reply from Liam yet so he shoved his phone in his pocket and folded up his blankets and piled them away neatly.

As he continued about his morning, eating a quick breakfast and making some for Mia, he gathered a few of the things she would need for the day and packed them into her bag setting it beside his shoes at the door. It was then that he heard her calling, “Daddy ...Daddy ...I wake.” He smiled as he made his way back to her room. “Good morning, princess” he said to her as he kissed her forehead “Did you sleep well, darling?” he asked as he picked her up and took her over to where he could get her dressed for the day. “Yes Daddy. I see Papa too?” she asked.

Louis’ heart sank a little at her question. “No sweetheart, Papa went back home last night,” he told her. “Okay, I love Daddy.” Louis put his arms out for another hug. “I love you too, princess.”

Mia followed Louis out of the bedroom and into the main room of the flat. “What do today Daddy?” she asked. “Well, Princess, Daddy has to work so you are going to come downstairs with me and we will hang out with Nanny while you eat your breakfast, how does that sound?”

With a big grin, Mia ran towards the door and found her shoes and carried them back over to her dad. “Yay Nanny!” she happily screamed. Louis made quick work of putting on both their shoes as he heard his phone ping with a new message.

_Morning Lou_

_Of course I’ll watch Mia, I have to run a couple of errands but as always she is more than welcome to join me. I guess Alex dropped by again last night… I hate to push you Lou but you really need to get a handle on this before your mum gets involved. I’ll be round as soon I can._

_Liam_

A sigh of relief came out of Louis and he felt a small weight lift off his shoulders.

_Thanks so much Li, I owe you so big. If you aren’t busy after I’m off maybe you could hang around and we can talk while Mia naps? You’ll never believe the night I had._

_Lou x_

Louis shoved his phone back into his pocket and picked up Mia. “You ready to go see Nanny then?” he asked her. He was about to bend down to pick up the rest of their stuff when he felt Mia patting her warm little hands on his bare chest. “Silly Daddy, you no shirt.” He looked down at himself and couldn’t believe that he actually just about left topless. “You certainly are right, little lady, Daddy almost forgot to put on his shirt this morning. Thank you for reminding me, princess. I’ll be right back,” he said as he set her back on her feet and ran into the bedroom, quickly coming back to where he left Mia, fully dressed in his uniform this time.

***

“Good morning, love,” Cathy said while she leaned in to place a kiss on her son’s cheek “Princess,” she directed toward Mia, “what a lovely surprise to see you today.” Cathy watched as Louis sat Mia in a chair at the front of the shop. It wasn’t unusual for Louis to bring Mia to work with him for an hour or two between pickups and drop offs. Alex wasn’t always the most reliable parent, often dropping off early before Louis’ shift was over or being late to pick her up. Louis always just pushed his frustrations to the back of his mind and did what he needed to do. He knew Liam would do in a pinch, and often took more responsibility for Mia than he should have to. Louis needed Alex to watch their daughter so he could work. He also never wanted to deny his daughter a relationship with her other father.

A buzzer went off and Cathy disappeared into the kitchen. While he waited for his mum to come back and question him about why Mia was here and what happened with Alex this time, he gave Mia her breakfast and set their stuff to the side out of the way. “You eat up, princess,” he said to Mia. “Uncle Liam is going to come pick you up in a little bit and the two of you can hang out while Daddy is working, ok?”

“Unc Lili Daddy?” the little girl questioned. “Park Unc Lili?”

“I don’t know love, you’ll have to ask Uncle Liam when he gets here if he will take you to play at the park,” he said as he placed a kiss on her forehead and went to wash his hands to start his shift.

A little while later, his mum appeared next to his daughter with a wet cloth to clean her up after she finished eating. “Lou, honey… you wanna tell me about what happened with him this time?” she asked him as she picked Mia up and wrapped her arms around her.

“Not really, mum.” Louis replied quietly without even turning his head to look at his mum.

“So I take it that it wasn’t good then, love?” she pressed, trying to get him to tell her something, anything at all.

Louis knew he should open up to his mum but really just didn’t want to talk about it at all. “I said that I didn’t want to talk about it, mum, so stop asking,” he snapped, a tad more aggressively then he’d meant to, so he added a “Please.”

“Alright, love, I can respect that. Please just know that I am always here to talk, yeah?” She spoke softly with nothing but love for her son behind her words. “I love you, Lou, and just worry about you is all, you and this beautiful little girl of yours.”

When Louis didn’t respond Cathy grabbed the small basket of toys from under the counter that were always there to entertain Mia while they were busy with customers and everything else that needed to be done around the shop while she was there. She carried Mia back over to the table right near the cash where Louis generally spent most of his morning working, placing the basket on the chair beside Mia so she could reach the toys and have room to play with them on the table. “There you go, princess, you can stay here and play with your toys while Daddy and Nanny are busy working, okay?”

“Okay Nanny,” Mia’s sweet little voice responded. “Papa home Nanny?” she followed with as she picked a few ponies out of the basket and started making them walk across the table in front of her. “Yeah, princess, Papa is at home.” Cathy gave her granddaughter a small smile.

***

“Blue, Daddy.” Mia said holding up a pink crayon.

“Pink, Princess, that is a pink crayon,” Louis gently corrected. The shop was pretty quiet this morning so he decided to spend some time playing with his daughter while he had a chance.

“That is a beautiful picture you are working on, Miss Mia.” Liam said as he picked up the little girl and sat her on his lap after he stole her chair, so she could finish her picture.

“Unc Lili!” Mia yelled as she turned her little body around and wrapped her tiny arms around the man’s neck. “Miss you. Love you.” She then placed a wet, sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“I missed you too, little one,” Liam smiled back at the little girl. “Did Daddy tell you we get to hang today?”

“Yeah, go park?” Mia asked in response.

“Yeah, sweetheart, we can go play in the park when you finish your picture, okay? Maybe we can make Daddy lunch after. Would you like that?”

“Okay, Unc Lili.” Mia smiled at him before turning back to her picture and continuing to draw scribbly lines all over the paper.

Liam looked up and across the table to his best friend. “Lou, I’m afraid to ask...” he hesitated, “how are you, honestly?”

“I’m okay, don’t have time not to be, Li.” Louis looked rather defeated. “Are you busy later? I could really use a good chat.” He sounded hopeful at the thought of talking through his frustrations.

“Course, mate, I’m always here for you. You know that, or at least you should by now.” Liam gave his friend a warm supportive smile. “I’ll take this little girl to play at the park for awhile and then we will come back here and make some lunch. We will save you a plate before I put her down for a nap, okay?”

“Yeah sure, do whatever, Li. Thanks so much for saving me last minute… again.” He smiled, looking towards the door as he heard it open. “I gotta get back to it. You rock, Li.” He placed a gentle loving kiss to Mia’s forehead telling her he would see her after she got up from her nap as he stood up and began to walk away. “Love you, princess, have fun at the park with Uncle Liam.”

“Okay Daddy, love you,” she said as she finished her picture and began to throw her crayons on the table “Park now?” she asked.

“We need to clean up your toys and put them back where you got them from, sweetheart. That way you will know where they are for next time,” Liam reminded her.

“No, you do clean,” she ordered Liam.

“I think not, I didn’t play with them but I will help you,” he said as he began putting the crayons back in the container. Mia began tossing the ponies and other little toys she had scattered on the table into the basket as well. Once all the toys were away and Liam put the basket back on the shelf he picked up Mia’s bag and walked with her out of the shop.

***

Louis was just finishing restocking things around the shop after the lunch customers left when he heard the door of the shop open. He looked up to see his blonde coworker smiling at him. “Hey Georgia, you’re early today.”

“Thought I would come a tad early to see your beautiful face before your shift is over. Was it busy last night or this morning?” she asked him.

“It was dead last night. I actually got out of here on time for once. This morning wasn’t too bad but it was unusually busy for lunch today.”

“Sweet, maybe I will get some studying done then if it’s not too busy tonight either.” Georgia smiled, putting down her rather heavy looking backpack with a thud. “So, how’ve you and Mia been?” she asked.

“Alright.” Louis tried to sound happy but was nearly out of energy today. After all, pretending to be so happy and upbeat when you really just want to crawl into bed and cry takes a lot more energy than you would imagine. He was just sick and tired of being so tired and dealing with the drama that seemed to be a constant in his life.

“Well that doesn’t sound too positive, Hun, has Mia been naughty or something?” Georgia was curious because as far as she was aware things for Louis had been going really well lately.

“Alex came in late last night and dropped off Mia. I don’t really want to talk about it.” Louis felt comfortable telling Georgia because she had been an unfortunate witness to some of Alex’ stunts in the past.

“Again! Oh Lou, I’m so sorry, Hun,” she said sympathetically, reaching around him and rubbing his back gently. “I won’t push you, though you know I’m always here to listen, right?”

“I know you are,” Louis thanked her “I just want to forget about it. It wasn’t really anything he hasn’t done before. Liam is watching Mia for me today. He is actually upstairs with her right now waiting for me to get off.”

“Why don’t you finish up early then?” she suggested “I promise I won’t tell your mum. Besides, there aren’t many people here right now anyway.”

“Really!” he said, surprised “That would be amazing. You don’t mind at all, do you?”

“Of course not, go,” she said as she shooed him towards the door. “Give your sweet little girl a hug for me.”

“Will do, thanks Georgia.” Louis called behind him.

***

Louis was relieved when he got upstairs to find Mia had fallen asleep. He jumped in the shower quickly and threw on a pair of clean grey joggers and a blue hoodie that Mia had given him for Father’s Day last year. As he walked toward the kitchen he was pleasantly surprised that Liam had his lunch and a hot cup of tea sitting on the coffee table waiting for him. He looked up toward his best friend. “Hey Li, thanks so much for everything today. You really are too good to me you know.”

“Nah, nothing you wouldn’t do for me. Besides, I had no plans today and absolutely love hanging out with your daughter. She is such a good girl and you are doing a great job raising her, Lou.” Liam smiled at Louis as he took a seat on the couch next to him. “Soooo...” he dragged out slowly hoping Louis would pick up his hint and tell him what happened with Alex and Mia last night.

He didn’t of course, too busy stuffing his face. Liam just stared at his friend waiting for him to finish eating and look in his direction.

“What?” Louis asked when he noticed Liam staring at him “Do I have something on my face?” He wiped his face with his sleeve, a bad habit he had developed recently since living on his own for the first time.

“No, Lou, you don’t. I was hoping that you would shed some light as to why Alex doesn’t have Mia today. I know you only take shifts when she is with him.”

Setting his empty plate back on the coffee table in front of him and picking up his cup of tea, Louis sat back on the old pullout couch and crossed his legs. He turned to his friend and let out a big sigh knowing how much Liam is going to hate the first part of this conversation. 

“I was cleaning up the shop last night in hopes that I could get to bed at a decent hour. I haven’t been sleeping the greatest as Mia has been getting up during the night. Anyway, Alex just barged in practically throwing Mia in my arms and told me to put her to bed. Long story short, he wanted a quickie in the back. I don’t think he was even planning on staying the night.”

“Again, Lou?” Liam didn’t look surprised or happy as Louis spoke. “What are you gonna do? It isn’t good for Mia for this to keep happening and I know you know this. I also know your mum won’t put up with his crap so you’d better take care of it before she does. Please tell me you didn’t give into him, you deserve so much better.”

“I know, I know, I know Li. I know all of that and usually it isn’t a big deal. Last night though I’m not sure what got into him but I was glad he brought Mia here because I think he may have been on something. I’m not sure what though. He got pushy last night too and it sorta scared me. He’s usually just more verbal with everything he does but last night he was all handsy and tried forcing me into the back to get what he wanted.”

“He WHAT?” Liam yelled, throwing a hand over his mouth hoping to not wake Mia. “Louis Tomlinson, how the hell did you get him to leave? Did you call the police? Why didn’t you call me last night? I would have left everyone and came to stay with you.” He was throwing out so many questions all at once.

Before Louis said anything more he set his tea on the coffee table and started fiddling with the hem of his shirt. Looking at his hands, he began to speak quietly and slowly. He wasn’t exactly sure how to word this next part because he knew Liam was going to flip out when he told him about Harry. He was sure Liam would be upset that he didn’t call him as soon as the man showed up last night so that Liam could meet him too. “Well… uhh… you won’t likely believe the next part Li.”

“Try me, Lou.” Placing his left hand on his friend's shoulder for comfort and his right hand under his chin. “Look at me while we talk, will ya?”

“Well there was a customer last night when it all happened and he threatened Alex and made him take off. Please don’t be upset and don’t be too loud when I tell you who it was.” He hesitated and looked right into Liam’s eyes.

“Unless it was Harry freakin’ Styles, Lou, I don’t give a shit who told Alex off. I’ll shake his hand and buy him a beer.”

“That’s the thing Li, it was him.”

“It was who?” Liam looked confused.

“Harry, Harry Styles. He was the one in here last night. He saw what Alex was doing and told him off.” Louis smirked at Liam.

Liam had a look of uncertainty on his face. “Yeah right, nice try Louis. There is no way Harry Styles came into _this_ café last night. Besides, you know how much I love him, you would have called, texted, or at least sent me a picture.”

“Like I said, I was a tad busy at the time. I did think about taking a quick picture on my phone to send you.” Louis gave his friend a quick smirk.

“Unbelievable, the one time I actually go out without you and you meet Harry Styles. I would have died Lou, it was probably best you didn’t call me,” Liam laughed. “Likely saved me from utter humiliation. I am sure he doesn’t have many men that full on fan girl.” 

Liam took a deep breath, trying to focus back on his friend and his current situation. He found it difficult and in the end couldn’t take his mind off the fact that his best friend in the entire world had met his idol, his favourite singer. “Tell me more about Harry, Lou. Like what did he look like in real life? I’ve always imagined meeting him and having like time stop and it be all dreamy and stuff you know.”

“He looked like a normal person to be honest. I also hate to be the one to break it to you but he cut his hair. His beautiful curls were no more.” Louis used air quotes around beautiful because that’s the word Liam always used to describe Harry’s curls.

Liam looked heartbroken “Liar, he did not. How could he possibly cut his beautiful curls, I mean there should be a law against that or something?”

“A law against Harry Styles cutting his hair? Good luck with that one, Li.”

“Was he just as nice as everyone says he is or is that like an act for the cameras? OOOO did he introduce himself to you and shake hands because that’s what everyone says he does where ever he goes.”

“No, he didn’t shake my hand or announce himself when he came in. I hadn’t noticed him at first because I had my back turned but he just asked for a coffee. Oh, and he told me that mum’s cheese scones were delicious. He seemed to really enjoy it so maybe he’ll come back again for another someday, who knows.” Louis was on the verge of laughing at his friend’s face. Liam looked like he was in shock and just so happy all at once.

Just as Liam was about to ask Louis even more details about his meeting last night with the famous celebrity, they heard little footsteps come running down the hall. “Daddy Daddy Daddy,” the sweetest little voice screamed with delight. “Home Daddy?” Mia asked.

Louis was quick to scoop his daughter up in his lap “Yes, princess, Daddy is all done work today.”

Mia clapped her hands as she bounced on her dad’s lap and gave him a wet, slobbery kiss on his cheek. “What doing?” she asked curiously.

“Well, Uncle Liam and I were just talking, sweetheart.” He turned to his friend once more “Thanks again Liam for watching her and for listening.”

“Not a problem, Lou, anytime you know that. This conversation is not over though. We will talk later about your little situation because you can’t just sit back and let it keep happening.” Liam looked at him a tad disappointed.

Mia suddenly leaped from Louis’ lap and straight into Liam’s. She wrapped her little arms around her uncle’s neck and placed a wet slobbery kiss on his cheek. “Happy, Unc Li?” she questioned him.

“Of course I am always happy when you give me hugs and kisses, princess,” Liam cooed at the little girl.

Louis looked on fondly as his two favourite people had a conversation about who knows what. Mia has always been a big talker and began earlier than other kids her age. He quickly finished his now luke warm, at best, tea before grabbing the dishes and taking them to the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Harry**

Harry was woken up that morning fairly early to the sound of his phone ringing. He sleepily reached his hand out and felt around the bedside table until he found it. He answered the phone as he brought it to his ear, all without even opening his eyes. “Hello,” he mumbled through his sleep.

“Up and at ‘em pop star,” a loud and rather obnoxious voice said on the other end of the phone.

“Niall?” Harry questioned.

“The one and only. Time to get up and get ready.”

Harry didn’t know what god awful time it was, but Niall had woken him up before the sun. He had trouble falling asleep last night, his mind couldn’t forget about the man he met. He was hoping that Louis and his daughter, he couldn’t remember the little girl’s name, made out okay. He kept thinking maybe he should have stayed to make sure that guy didn’t turn around and come back to finish what he started. He couldn’t help but hope that Louis locked the door when he had left and took his daughter right to bed. He just couldn’t get Louis out of his mind and now Niall had him up far too early and for who knows why.

“Why so early Ni, have I forgotten about something?” 

“No, you didn’t forget about anything H. I couldn’t get a hold of you last night to let you know you had a change in schedule for today. They have moved your interviews around and the first one starts in about an hour. We will be by your place in a few to pick you up and I’ll bring you breakfast for the road.” Niall seemed nervous for some reason.

“Alright then, I’m hopping in the shower now. Thanks, Niall.” Harry tried his best to reassure his friend by speaking calmly and slowly. Niall was not only Harry’s best friend but his manager too. The two had decided Niall would be Harry’s manager after he was the one to send Harry’s demo to the record label that had finally signed him. Harry knew he could trust Niall with keeping him on schedule and planning his shows and appearances.

Harry hung up his phone and put it back on the table beside his bed. Pushing the covers away from his warm body and rubbing his face, he stood up on his feet and trudged along to the bathroom. He pushed his underwear down to his ankles and stepped out of them before reaching to turn on the shower. As he let the water get warm, he went through his morning routine.

Just over half an hour later Harry was throwing on a jacket and putting on his favourite brown boots as the doorbell rang. He opened the door to a smiley Niall. “Good morning sunshine,” his friend said confidently, handing him coffee and a bag with a pastry of some sort in it.

“Morning Ni, thanks for this.” he said sleepily while holding up his breakfast. “Where are we off to this morning then?”

“Kiss FM and you’re welcome. It’s what you pay me for, Harry.”

Not long after that the two men found themselves being ushered into a radio station and told to take a seat. A radio host handed Harry a pair of headphones and pointed out a microphone that he was to speak into.

***

It was just after lunch time and Harry was both hungry and exhausted. He had done so many interviews in the last six hours, he had lost count how many exactly.

Niall had just told Harry they were done for the day and asked him what he wanted to eat. “I really don’t care, Ni. I just want food and sleep to be honest.”

“After lunch I’ll drop you off back at home and you can rest, H. You were great at the interviews today.” Niall tried to pat Harry’s back but he had turned his body toward the window and snuggled into it.

After the two had a quick lunch, Niall made good on his promise and dropped Harry off back at his house and left again. Harry happily had a full belly and didn’t waste time taking his boots off and hanging up his jacket. He threw his house keys on the kitchen counter on his way down the hall to his bedroom. He took his phone out of his pocket and plugged it in placing it on the table beside his bed. He took off his pants and left them in a heap on the floor planning to put them back on after a little nap.

When Harry woke up a couple of hours later feeling rested, he redressed himself and let his mind wander back to wondering how Louis had made out. He had stood in his kitchen staring out the window at a pair of birds that seemed to be dancing around a tree near his house. He was debating whether it would be weird if he were to go back to the place where he met Louis last night for another scone and maybe to check up on them. Harry decided he would see if his guitarist and good friend, Zayn, would come with him.

_Hey Zee what are you up to at the mo? I found this neat little place last night with amazing scones, it’s a bit out of the way and quiet. I was going to head back there right now and hoped you’d be up for coming with?_

_H_

He didn’t have to wait long for a response.

_Sure H, sounds like fun. I’m heading to yours now so I’ll see ya soon._

_Zee_

Harry was happy to be hanging out with Zayn. Since he started to play guitar for Harry, the two men had become closer. Zayn was close to Harry’s age and into a lot of the same things. He also appreciated Harry’s choice of fashion when he wasn’t in the public eye.

***

A while later, Harry found himself sitting in the passenger seat of Zayn’s car outside the little coffee shop. He took a deep breath before opening his door and stepping out. He really hoped that he would find Louis working again.

Zayn looked over and must have sense a little hesitation “You alright, H?” he asked.

“Yeah, I am all good. Just tired after this morning’s interviews is all,” he said, shrugging it off.

The two entered the shop and Harry found himself looking around and setting his eyes on a young woman putting on a new pot of coffee behind the counter. He stepped up toward her feeling a little nervous about what he was about to ask.

“Hello,” her warm friendly voice welcomed them. “What can I get for you both this evening?”

“I’ll have a large tea please and one of your finest pastries.” Zayn smirked at the women then looked over to Harry, waiting for him to order.

“Umm,” Harry hesitated “I’ll just have a tea as well and a cheese scone with butter please,” he said as his eyes scanned behind the counter, trying to sneak a peek at the kitchen.

“Sure thing boys.” she said ringing it through the register and turning to gather their order.

“You sure you’re ok, H?” Zayn asked, head cocked sideways as if he could sense something was off. Harry looked over at Zayn and could see a look of worry in his face but didn’t feel like telling him about last night. After all, Harry thought himself completely ridiculous coming here to check on a random stranger he met last night as it was and didn’t need his good friend to confirm this for him.

After both men grabbed their order, they carried it to a table for two and sat down. Harry decided it was now or never and he needed to know Louis was okay. He got out of his seat, “I’ll be right back,” he said to his friend.

“Where are you going?” Zayn started to ask before he just walked away, ignoring him.

Harry walked back up to the counter where the young woman was now filling some machine he had no idea what it was for. “Um, excuse me.” he said politely.

“Yes sir, may I help you with something?” she asked quietly.

Matching her quiet tone Harry asked “Is Louis around by any chance?” Harry looked down to the rings on his fingers, awkwardly waiting for a response.

“He isn’t working tonight if that’s what you mean. He was on an early shift today but I think he’s upstairs.”

“Oh, okay. Thanks anyway.” Harry said thankful he at least knew that he was alive and well if he had worked that morning. That’s all he really wanted to know anyway, he told himself, even though he still felt a strange feeling in his stomach. A feeling that seemed to be compelling him to find out more and to see him again.

As he began to walk back toward Zayn, he heard her speak once again. “I can go up and see if he’s there. I mean ask him to come down if you want to talk to him. It’s not a problem.”

“Sure,” Harry smiled back at her not even taking a second to think about her offer. Before he realized what was happening, she had disappeared up a set of stairs.

A few short minutes later, Harry could hear a couple of pairs of feet coming down the staircase. He could see the women pointing in his direction and saying something over her shoulder. It was when the girl walked into the back of the cafe that he could see the other man approaching him, the one with golden skin and blue eyes. Harry took a quick glance over his shoulder toward his friend, whom he found staring strangely back at him with a questioning look. When he turned back around Louis was standing directly in front of him.

“Hey, um, I didn’t expect to see you again, Harry.” Louis said awkwardly. “I mean it’s a pleasure but I just didn’t think you would ever come back here or ask for me. Thanks again for last night, you really saved Mia from a potentially horrible situation.”

“It was no big deal, Louis, anyone would have done it I’m sure. I just wanted to come and see if you were alright. You know, make sure that whatever his name was didn’t come back after I left or anything.” Harry blushed at admitting this.

“Yeah, we’re both alright. I’m glad he didn’t come back as well. I locked up and took Mia right to bed just in case he did turn around.”

“That’s good.” Harry wasn’t sure what to say next. He just kind of stood there in silence for what felt like forever.

“I hate to be that person, Harry. My best friend is upstairs and is a huge fan. He watched my daughter for me this morning and would love it if he could meet you.” Louis said hesitantly. “If you don’t mind. I understand if you don’t want to though.”

“Of course, not a problem. I love meeting my fans.” Harry smiled at Louis “My friend, Zayn, is over there waiting for me to get back to him.” He said looking towards his now very confused friend. “I’m going to go have my tea and sit with him but bring your friend by whenever, okay? We’ll be here for a bit.”

“Wow thanks, Harry. How sweet of you.” Louis smiled at him before heading back upstairs.


	4. Chapter 4

**Liam**

Fifteen minutes after Georgia came to get Louis, Liam could hear footsteps coming back up the stairs. He was playing dolls with Mia when the door opened and he heard Louis calling his name “Liam…Liam” voice full of excitement “you’re never gonna guess who I was just talking to.”

“Who?” he asked with curiosity.

“Mr. Styles himself!” Louis said smirking at Liam.

Liam dropped the doll he had in his hands and stood up almost looking his friend in the eye. “And you tell me, Lou, I thought I was your best friend.” He crossed his arms in front of his toned chest and started to pout, showing Louis he was unhappy with him.

“Let me finish, Li.” Louis said rubbing his hands through Liam’s perfectly styled hair. “He came to check that Mia and I were alright and that a certain someone didn’t come back last night. Anyway, I asked him if he’d stick around for a few so my very best friend in the whole wide world could come down and meet him. I told him you were a big fan and that it would mean so much to you.”

“You did… So we’ve been wasting time that I could have been with Harry Styles talking.” Liam yelled as he jumped into his friend’s arms “You’re the best Lou, I love you so much,” he said running to the bathroom so he could fix his hair after Louis ruined it.

After quickly fixing his hair, he ran to the front door. “Come on, Lou, my Harry awaits,” he said anxiously opening the door so his friend and Mia could go down the stairs first.

He got more nervous with every step he took down the stairs. Sure, he was so excited that he actually got the chance to meet his idol, but what if he makes a fool out of himself. “Lou” he quietly said as they took their first couple of steps into the shop.

“Relax, Li, he is right over there. Just wait a sec, ya?”

“No, Lou, stop.” he hesitated, “I can’t do this. I can’t just walk up to Harry Styles and say Hi.”

“Why not, Li?” he looked quizzically at his friend behind him standing in the doorway

Before Liam could say anything more he could see a figure approaching Louis from behind. The closer the figure got, the clearer it became and he just pointed. “Ummm” was all he could get out.

Louis turned away from Liam and casually said, “Oh Harry, you didn’t have to get up. We could have come over to you, you know.”

“It’s not a problem, Louis. Is this your friend you told me about?” Harry asked looking in Liam’s direction.

“Yeah, this is my friend Liam. He is a huge fan of yours, Harry.”

Harry put his hand out toward Liam. Liam reached out a shaky hand of his own shaking Harry’s. “Hi Harry. I’m Liam, I guess Louis told you that already.” Liam was nervous and could feel nothing but adrenaline run through his entire body. He couldn’t believe that he was standing in front of Harry Styles.

“So you’re a fan then?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, big fan actually. I love your music and everything you do. You are so inspirational to me and I just… wow.” Liam had a grin stretching from one ear all the way to the other.

Harry smiled back at Liam “Well thanks so much. You are very kind to say such things. Would you like to join my friend and I for tea?”

“Seriously?” Liam asked shocked “We don’t want to interrupt you and your friend.”

“It’s ok, Zee won’t mind.” Harry says as he starts walking towards their table. Harry pulled over a couple of chairs before looking at Mia, who was still in her daddy’s arms.

“Hey, princess, would you like your own chair too?” Mia didn’t say a word just shyly nuzzled her face into Louis neck. “You can sit with Daddy, honey, it’s ok.” Louis said, rubbing her back softly in circles as he took his seat across from Zayn.

Georgia immediately yelled over to the boys, “Lou, you and Liam want me to bring you over tea?”

“Always, Georgia.” Louis giggled back at her.

It was when Harry introduced his friend that Liam actually turned his head and looked at him for the first time. “Louis, Liam, this is my good friend Zayn. He is the best guitarist you’ll ever meet.”

Louis reached his hand out to greet the man. “Nice to meet you Zayn, I’m Louis. This is my best friend Liam.” Louis then looked in Liam’s direction.

Liam just sat there, he couldn’t help but stare at the beautiful man sat in front of him. He had short dark hair that looked so very soft, the most piercing brown eyes that were framed with beautiful eyelashes. His eyes wandered to the man’s strong jawline and his lips that looked so very kissable. All Liam wanted to do was reach forward and touch the man, explore the tattoos that were peeking out from his shirt sleeve that he had pushed up around his elbows, he could even see a couple on his hands. He watched as the man’s right hand slowly reached out and started coming toward him. He felt a tiny slap on his arm then and shook his head. He realized he had been staring at this gorgeous stranger and by the look on everyone’s faces they had been trying to get his attention. “Sorry” he quietly blurted out as he desperately looked toward his friend for help.

Louis just laughed at Liam “This is Harry’s guitarist, Zayn.” he said again to Liam.

“Hi” was all that Liam could manage as he turned to look at the stunning man once more.

“Sorry about Li, he was with my daughter all morning so he is just tired. He usually isn’t this rude.” Louis tried to cover up the fact that Liam was once again staring at Zayn.

“Nice to meet you, Liam.” Zayn smiled at him. “What do you do then, Liam?” the man tried to make small talk with him.

“I’m a journalist, freelance journalist.”

“Nice, do you travel a lot then?”

“Sometimes, I mean the option is always there to go basically anywhere I guess. I do my best to not be gone for too long. I miss this little girl way too much when I don’t get to see her,” he said, rubbing the little girl’s sandy locks.

Mia picks up her head “Miss Unc Lili” then turns to look at Louis. “Toys, Daddy,” she asked as she pointed toward where she knew her toys were kept behind the counter.

“I’ll get them, Lou, you stay here,” Liam volunteered and got up, bringing back Mia’s basket of toys. “Here you go, princess.” He left a gentle kiss on her head as she reached in to pull out a doll.

“She is adorable, Lou!” Harry smiled at the pair. “How old is she then?”

Mia looked toward him and held up three fingers and said “Two”.

The four men chuckled and Louis smiled at his daughter. “You’re right, baby girl, you are two. Your birthday is coming up in a couple of months and then you’ll be three.”

As three of the men continued chatting about random things, Liam found himself staring once again at Zayn. He had butterflies in his stomach every time the man looked in his direction or gave him a little smile. It’s like the whole world slowed down every time he did.

“It has been nice talking with you both but I had better start getting this little girl to bed,” Louis said as he helped Mia put the toys away.

“Yeah, we should be getting back too. Niall will be looking to make sure I am in bed early tonight. We have our show tomorrow and today was full of early morning interviews,” Harry agreed with Louis.

Liam stood up with the rest of them and looked to his feet. “I guess tomorrow is the big concert isn’t it?” he said quietly as he fiddled with the hem of his shirt.

Louis pushed him lightly with his shoulder. “Liam is just sad that he didn’t get tickets. He wanted to see you so badly.”

The men all said their goodbyes and went their separate ways, Louis upstairs with Mia while Harry and Zayn walked to Zayn’s car together. Liam walked out the door not long after the other two men and started walking toward where he left his car earlier that day to go home himself. He heard someone calling his name so he turned around to find Zayn running after him. “What’s up, Zayn?” he nervously questioned.

“I wanted to give you these before we left.” Zayn handed him an envelope. “I wanted to make sure I could see you again. Maybe you’d like to hang out after the show or something. I hope you can make it.” Zayn gave Liam a flirty smile.

“I don’t understand, I don’t have tickets to the show.” Liam’s breath hitched as Zayn’s fingers gently brushed his as he took the envelope from him.

“See you tomorrow, beautiful.” Zayn winked before turning and running back to where he left Harry waiting in his car.


	5. Chapter 5

**Louis**

_What do you mean you’re not coming? Alex, I need to leave in 30 minutes._

Louis’ frustration immediately came to the surface. “What the hell am I going to do now, Li?” He whined to his friend who was currently watching Avengers with Mia snuggled into his side. “I don’t want to have to ask my mum again. I don’t have time for another lecture about my bad decisions.”

“I don’t really think you have a choice, Lou. I mean, unless we miss the concert but really that isn’t an option at all. What if you just dropped her off at his place anyway? I mean he does it to you all the time.” Liam knew that really wasn’t an option, knew that Louis would end up calling his mum and that Cathy would gladly watch her granddaughter. It never came easy though because Cathy always reminded Louis that he needs to make better choices in his relationships.

_I mean I can’t take her tonight. A new guy I met a couple weeks ago is coming over and she will just get in the way and cramp my style. I’ve had to look elsewhere since you refuse to give me what I need. A man has needs Louis and I’m gonna get me some fine ass tonight._

***

After dropping Mia off to his mum’s house and grabbing dinner with Liam, Louis found himself wandering around a department store. They had a few minutes to kill before the doors to the concert venue opened and Liam had to use the toilet really badly. While he was wandering around looking at all the things he would buy for his daughter if he had money, he spotted the smallest underwear for little girls ever. “Oh my goodness, Lou, those would probably actually fit Mia. When do you start potty training kids?” Liam startled him.

“Mum always said you just have to know when they are ready. It took her awhile with Doris and Ernie, they were trouble for sure.” As Louis’ eyes wandered over the different patterns he spotted something amazing. “Avengers, Li, Mia will love these. I have to get her these.”

“She is only two, Lou, is she really ready to potty train?” Liam sounded clueless.

“And a half, Li, two and a half. Her birthday is in a couple months and I have some days off. I think I’ll try and see how she does.” With that he bought two packages. He hadn’t brought a backpack or anything and they had decided to take public transit so they didn’t have to deal with the crazy traffic. The only place Louis could seem to fit his two small packages was in his pockets. It didn’t seem like a big deal in that moment so he pushed them into his pockets and they went to the concert.

**Harry**

Meanwhile, Harry was looking forward to performing again. Being on stage and in front of his fans was absolutely one of the best adrenaline highs in the world. He loved when they sang his songs along with him but his favourite part, hands down, was chatting with the crowd. Tonight was no different, the crowd was loud and lively and the energy they were giving back to him was incredible. It was going to be a great night, he just knew it. Even Zayn had an extra bounce to his step tonight.

Between the first couple of songs, Harry had spent time talking with his fans to the right side of the stage. As he finished singing a few more, he started making his way to the left of the stage. Searching the crowd as he went by, some people near the front caught his eye and he did a double take. He was pretty sure Louis had said Liam hadn’t had tickets to his show. Harry began to wonder how the two men were here tonight when he remembered Zayn running out of the car with something in his hands he had given to Liam. Harry also saw the look in Zayn’s eye when they had coffee with the other men last night. He knew his friend had his eye on Liam, as he put it all together and quickly figured out Zayn had given Liam tickets.

“Hey, Zayn, Come on down here for a minute.” Harry called as his fans screamed. “There is this really cute guy in the front row I think you should meet.”

Zayn let his guitar rest on his shoulder strap and walked over to where Harry was standing, a microphone was handed to him as he passed by a stagehand. “What are you talking about, H,” he started to ask as he approached. It was then that Zayn made eye contact with the man he knew Harry was talking about and his face suddenly flushed a light shade of pink.

“Good evening, fellas, are you both having a good time so far?” Harry directed the question to the two men stood near the front of the stage. Both immediately nodded their heads. “What are your names?” Pretending to be meeting them for the first time.

“You know who we are,” Liam yelled over the noisy crowd.

“Nice to meet you, Louis and Liam.” Harry threw a smirk towards them both. “I see you both have backstage passes around your necks. How did you manage to get those?” He asked looking directly at Zayn, the man had nothing but guilt written all over his face.

“Zayn gave them to me last night.” Liam yelled as he gave Zayn a huge smile.

“Is that so, Zayn.” Harry thought he could poke fun at his friend for once. “Giving out tickets and backstage passes to cute boys are we?” Streams of “woo” could then be heard over the crowd.

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” Zayn wasn’t sure what to say really. “Liam is a big fan and I wanted to make sure he could see your show tonight.” 

“Then have a snog with you backstage afterwards as well.” Harry said boldly. Both Liam and Zayn turned bright red at this statement. “Well I guess there is my answer. No need to press this issue any further.” This made the whole audience scream quite loudly.

While Harry started to talk with Liam, Louis struggled to take his phone out of his pocket. He wanted to record this interaction for Liam for a later date. He hadn’t noticed that one of the packages from earlier fell out of his pocket as he did so. “You dropped something there mate” Harry noticed, pointing to a security guard to pick it up and hand it back to Louis. Harry laughed to himself when he saw what it was. “Can’t say I have ever had someone bring tiny Avenger undies to a show before. Care to explain, sir?” Harry gave Louis an amused smile.

“They are for my daughter, Mia. I’m going to try potty training her this weekend.” Louis said a little embarrassed.

“Right, you’re telling me that you have a daughter and she likes Avengers?”

“Yeah, you know I do Harry. You’ve met her, a couple of times now.”

Harry looked back out over the crowd, who were all now laughing, before staring Louis directly in his eyes with a look of serious determination. “I am truly sorry, sir, but I really don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve never met you before in my life.”

Louis huffed and slapped Liam’s arm as his friend started laughing loudly at the man on stage. Louis lifted his right hand to the sky and stuck up his middle finger. “Okay, I’ll tell my mum not to worry about making those extra scones for you for tomorrow night then?” Louis snarled back.

“Excuse me, sir, but this is a family show…”Harry paused while he smiled at the audience and looked out over the crowd while they waited for him to finish what they already knew he was going to say “…or is it?”

“That reminds me of some jokes I’ve got for you.” Harry changed the subject “What is the Avengers favourite day of the week?” He waited a couple of seconds before answering “Thorsday!”

Half of the audience laughed while half seemed to groan. “Okay, okay, okay.” He continued. “Last one before we get back to some music. What do you call a superhero that writes novels?” Harry again waited for a couple of seconds before giving everyone the answer “An au-Thor.”

***

A few days later Louis woke up to the sound of little feet coming into the living room. “Daddy.” Mia called as she was standing right beside where he was just asleep. “Wake now please,” she continued moving her face closer to his. When Louis opened his eyes he was startled to discover that his daughter was staring him in the eye and breathing on his cheek.

“Good morning, princess. How did you sleep?” he asked as he pulled her toward himself for a hug.

“Okay, Daddy,” she said quietly. “Hungry now.”

“Alright, princess, let daddy get up and we’ll find some breakfast, alright? After breakfast Daddy has a surprise for you.” At that the little girl hopped back to the floor and clapped her hands as she jumped up and down with excitement.

“Prise for Mia?” she squealed.

After the two had breakfast together and Louis tidied up he called Mia back to the living room to have a little chat with her. “So Mia, like Daddy said, I have a surprise for you. It is something super special that only big girls and boys get to have.”

At this point, Mia was so excited to hear Louis tell her she was getting a big girl present she was nearly shaking. Louis held out the packages of Avengers underwear that he bought before the concert and gave them to Mia. “What those Daddy?” Mia wasn’t sure what she had been given.

“Well, princess, Daddy doesn’t have to work for a couple of days so he is going to teach you how to pee on the potty. Just like Daddy does.”

“Aunt Lotts pee potty too,” she says rather matter of factly.

“That’s because Aunt Lottie is a big girl, just like you are. If you pee on the potty you don’t have to wear a diaper while you are awake. You get to wear a pair of these undies.” Louis tried to make the whole ordeal as exciting and special as he could. He had told everyone in his family and Liam that he was planning on staying home this weekend to help Mia. He just hoped she would be easier than the younger twins had been for his mum.

Mia reached down and pulled up the night gown she was still wearing and pulled at the tabs of her diaper so she could take it off. Once she heard it hit the ground she picked it up and ran to throw it in the garbage. “Vengers now, Daddy?” she asked with enthusiasm.

“Let's go to the bathroom and try to pee on the potty first, ok? When you put pee in the potty then you can pick which pair you want to wear, alright?” With that the little girl grabbed her new underwear in her left hand and her Daddy’s hand in her right and pulled him toward the bathroom.

It only took five minutes for Mia to actually pee in the potty. “Good job, princess. Daddy is proud of you sweetheart. Who are you going to wear first?” he asked, holding out her options.

“Hulk,” she said with a big smile on her face. Once Louis helped her put the underwear on he reminded her not to get Hulk wet and to let him know if she had to use the bathroom.

***

Louis had just taken a seat on the couch when he heard his phone ding with a message. He leaned forward to pick it up off the table and opened it, finding a message from Liam.

_How goes potty training so far?_

Louis began typing a response right away. _Fantastic actually, she has only had one accident and loves the underwear I got her!_

_That is really great Lou, good for you both. You’re a really great dad and your little girl is so precious._

Louis decided that he needed tea and didn’t answer Liam until after he had put the kettle on. _I mean thanks and I appreciate it Li, but I also get the feeling you need something from me. Am I right?_

Only after Louis’ tea was made just right and he carried it back to the couch did his friend answer his question.

_You know me well. So I was hoping you’d help me figure out what to wear tonight. I have a date!!!!! With whom you might ask…_

Giggling to himself, Louis waited to find out who Liam was going out with.

_ZAYN, as is Zayn Malik. He asked me to go out tonight for dinner. Said that they added a few shows nearby so they will be in the area for a bit longer._

Louis slapped a hand to his wide open mouth as he gasped. He couldn’t believe that Zayn asked Liam out. He could tell that they liked each other but didn’t figure it would come to much since the two have crazy schedules that take them all around the world for months at a time. _That is amazing Li, I’m so happy for you! FaceTime me when you’re getting ready and I’ll give you my opinion._

***

Harry had texted Louis a while after his conversation with Liam ended and invited Louis and Mia on a picnic that night. Louis figured it would be good for the two of them to get out of their little place since they had been cooped up all day. He was currently packing some things for Mia while she played in the living room. Harry had said he would pack the food but Louis packed a cup of water and a few of her favourite snacks just in case she didn’t like what Harry packed for them.

It didn’t take Louis long to gather everything they would need for a picnic in the park. He was looking forward to just hanging out with someone new. He spent most of his time between work, his family, Liam, and Alex, so it was a nice change to have a new friend to spend some time with while the other man was in town. Mia was reading one of the books he had packed while he kept watch out the window for Harry to come.

As soon as he saw Harry getting out of his car out front, he asked Mia to put her book back in the bag. He put the bag over his shoulder and picked up her car seat as he grabbed Mia’s hand with his free one. The two made their way through the door and towards where Harry was walking to meet them.

“Here Lou, let me help you with that.” Harry said jogging toward them, reaching for Mia’s car seat.

“Thanks” Louis smiled at his new friend before turning to his daughter. “You remember Harry, don’t you, princess?”

The little girl shook her head but gave the man a small wave. She turned and pulled on her dad’s hands so he would bend down and she could speak in his ear. “Harry Daddy’s friend?” she asked.

Louis pulled away slightly so he could look at his daughter. “Yeah, princess, Harry is Daddy’s friend. He is going to take us to play at the park and for a picnic. What do you think of that?”

Mia smiled big and looked toward where Harry was standing at his car with an open door, waiting for Louis to put the car seat in for Mia. “Thank you, Harry,” she sweetly said to the man. “Love go to park.”

“You do?” Harry smiled back at the little girl. “Well I am glad because the park we are going to has two slides.”

It didn’t take long for Louis to install Mia’s car seat into Harry’s car. The three were off to the park Harry had picked out for them. The whole drive found the two men in the front seat easily chatting about different things. Louis really liked talking with Harry, they seemed to be very similar in many ways.

After they all sat on a blanket that Harry carefully laid out for them, they quickly ate what he had packed. Mia loved the cheese sandwich that was made just for her. When she was done eating, Louis pulled some wipes out of their bag and cleaned up the dip that she had on her face and hands from the veggies and dip she had just finished. “Thank you, Harry,” the little girl giggled as she began to run circles around the two men. “Daddy, I play now?” she politely asked Louis.

“Of course, princess. You go play while Harry and I sit here and watch you, okay? Just remember to stay where Daddy can see you.”

“Yes, Daddy,” she squealed as she ran toward the climber they were sat next to.

Harry and Louis spent the next hour sitting and talking and taking turns running after Mia and playing with the little girl. Louis felt so warm and happy as he sat back and watched his daughter running away from his new friend. She squealed as he got closer and scooped her up, carrying her back to where Louis was sat. Louis hoped that he could hang out like this with Harry more before he had to leave town again to finish the rest of his tour. It was simply refreshing, Harry was like a breath of fresh air in his life. With all the drama that seemed to follow Louis around with Alex, it was just nice to forget about it all and feel like a normal person.

A little while later Louis looked at the time on his phone and noticed it was getting near bedtime for Mia. He turned to where Harry was sitting next to him. “I better get Mia home to bed soon. She is so tired from all the fresh air and running around she will likely pass out before we hit the road.”

Harry laughed quietly. “Yeah, she looks like she is getting sleepy. I’ll pack up our stuff if you want to go grab her and I’ll take you home.”

Louis insisted on helping Harry pack up all their belongings. When Harry started taking things to the car, Louis walked over to where Mia was still swinging on the swing on her stomach. She was drawing lines with her feet in the sand below as she ran back up and pushed herself off again. “Hey, princess, it’s time to head home now.”

“Tired” was all that she said to Louis as she got off the swing and threw herself into his arms.

The ride back to Louis and Mia’s was quieter and Harry put on the radio. The two sang the songs they knew that were played all the way back and Harry parked his car down the block a bit. “I’ll help you carry your stuff in, Louis,” he said as he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the back of his car.

“Thanks for a fun time today, Harry. It was so good to get out and just talk, you know.”

“It was fun, Louis, thanks for keeping me company. Your daughter is super sweet too.”

Harry picked up Louis’ bag from the back seat and Mia’s car seat and followed Louis through the shop. Louis stopped him at the bottom of the stairs and told him he was okay to get it the rest of the way himself. So with that the men said goodbye and Harry promised he would text Louis when he got home.


	6. Chapter 6

A couple of days later, Louis found himself getting ready for work again and packing Mia’s weekend bag with extra outfits. He was so proud of his little girl. The whole potty training was so easy, she took to it right away and enjoyed the extra praise she had been getting over the last couple of days from her dad.

Louis was, however, nervous because it was the first time he would be sending Mia with Alex for the weekend since he had dropped her off early on his last weekend. He hoped that he would accept the potty training with Mia, especially since he, by himself, had already done the hardest bit. Louis could never really be sure what type of mood Alex would be in when he picked up or dropped Mia off on his weekends. He really didn’t like the idea of her going alone with him to begin with, but his mum told him that he needed to stick to their original agreement.

A few minutes later, as Louis was gathering up all their things and escorting Mia out the door and down the stairs into the shop, his phone went off.

_I’m outside. I’ll wait for you to bring her out._

It was from Alex and he clearly seemed like he might be off today. Louis’ stomach started doing flips. His nerves started to creep up on him as he thought about telling Alex about Mia using the potty now. He had remembered to pack hers because he knew for certain there was no way Alex would get one for his house.

Louis set his stuff for work on the counter and told Georgia he’d be back in a few moments. He held Mia’s hand and guided her out to Alex’s car with her bag in his other hand. The minute she spotted the other man she shouted and ran toward him. “Papa, it you!”

Alex looked to Louis, completely ignoring his excited daughter. “Why does she have so much stuff? There is no way in hell she is moving in with me. She was your decision after all and I just went along with it because you have a nice ass.”

“ALEX” Louis yelled “That is an inappropriate way to talk in front of our daughter. Besides, she is excited to see you and you’ve completely ignored her.” Louis got annoyed easily when it came to Alex and today was no different. How someone could completely ignore their own daughter baffled Louis but unfortunately did not surprise him when it came to Alex.

“Hey Mia, how are you, love?” Alex gave his daughter a brief sideways glance before turning back towards the giant bag Louis had placed on the passenger seat of Alex’s car.

Mia went off on an excited tangent talking to Alex but the man never actually paid any attention to her. Instead he stood there holding her hand as she leaped and ran around wildly and watched as Louis struggled to install her car seat into his car. “Mia,” he started as he finally looked down to his daughter, “you need to stand still and not talk so much. You are giving Papa a headache and he isn’t in the mood for a chat right now,” he finished as he looked away from her again.

Louis never heard their conversation but finished putting the seat in and hopped out of his ex’s car. “There you go Alex, you’re all set. Do you need me to put her in and strap her as well?”

“Well who else is going to do it?” Alex asked with a condescending tone.

“Seriously!” Louis muttered under his breath so no one else could hear him. “Come here, princess. Did you tell Papa what we have been working on these last couple of days?”

“Potty Papa,” she squealed with delight.

“What do you mean?” Alex furrowed his eyebrows and looked toward Louis for explanation.

“That’s right. Mia goes on the potty now and only wears diapers to sleep, Alex. I packed her lots of underwear and extra clothes in case she has any accidents.” Louis looked toward the other man. He couldn’t quite read his reaction but continued before being cut off. “She has been really really go….”

“WHAT?” Alex screeched “Take your kid out of my car right now.” He opened the passenger door and grabbed the things Louis placed in there only a couple minutes prior. “I do not do potties. There is no way in hell I am having some little brat piss all over my house.” He shoved the bag toward Louis.

“Come on, Alex. Don’t call her a brat, she is such a wonderful little girl,” Louis tried pleading with him, “She is doing so well and has hardly any accidents, she’s a natural. I put an extra bag in there so you can just throw in any clothes she messes in and I’ll wash them. I’ve got to work, Alex. Don’t do this to her again, please.” he practically begged.

“I don’t care. Call me when she won’t piss all over my shit, Louis.” Alex spat out and slammed his car door shut. “I don’t give a shit if you work or not, I also don’t give two shits what you are going to do about her while you work.”

With Mia now standing on the sidewalk crying in her Daddy’s arms, Alex got into his car and drove away. Louis could feel the tears starting to swell inside himself as well. He did his best to push them back once again. He picked up his things and walked defeated back towards the shop. “Well, princess, how about we go say hi to Georgia instead, huh?” he asked, trying to make light of the situation for his daughter.

“Papa no see Mia?” she asked through sniffles “Mia love Papa.”

“I know you love him, princess, and I bet you miss him, huh?” Louis wiped away the tear that fell down his daughter’s cheek.

“Mhmm” she nodded her head. “Me miss Papa, Daddy. Papa go?” she asked, lifting her head to look at her Dad.

“Well” Louis began as they walked through the shop to where he had left his work things. “Papa isn’t feeling well so he went home to sleep.”

“Mia help Papa?” she asked a little more enthusiastically “Make Papa no sick.” She sounded determined.

Just then Georgia came over, having served the rest of the customers that had come in before Louis and Mia returned. “That is awfully thoughtful of you, love.” She gave a tiny smile to Georgia who looked confused to see Mia. “We wouldn’t want you getting sick though so Papa decided that you should stay and help Daddy at work tonight.” Louis shook his head at the girl working behind the counter signaling her not to ask. “How does that sound, princess?” Louis looked at his daughter hopeful as he set her down on her feet and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

“Liam’s here, I’ll entertain the little lady if you need to go blow off some steam for a few. I’ll come get you if I need help.” Georgia rubbed Louis’ back and nodded to where Liam was standing.

Louis thanked her and motioned for Liam to follow him into the back, where they could talk alone.

“Sorry to bug you at work, Lou,” Liam started, “I just wanted to drop by and say good-bye before I left. I’m not sure how long I’ll be gone really. There is some political stuff going on and I have a bunch of interviews set up. Hopefully it’ll make a good story for me.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot you were going away,” Louis said quietly, trying not to sound too upset.

“Forget about me, Lou, what is Mia doing here? I thought she was supposed to be with Alex this weekend. Please don’t tell me he didn’t show again.”

“Oh he showed up alright,” Louis stood himself taller and puffed out a breath, “I can’t fucking believe him, Li. How can anyone possibly treat their kid like he treats her, how can he not see what an amazing person she is and how he apparently doesn’t give two shits.”

Louis began pacing back and forth, allowing himself to get heated and angry about the situation.

“Whoa, slow down a sec, Lou, tell me what happened,” Liam took a step toward Louis, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“He fucking called her a brat and practically threw her stuff out of his car and wouldn’t take her. He actually told me to call him when she wouldn’t piss all over his shit, Li. Can you believe that asshole? What did I ever see in him anyway?”

“He what!” Liam exclaimed.

Louis watched Liam take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

“I was so angry with him, Li. Mia was standing right there and heard everything. I couldn’t even say anything to him because I didn’t want to start a fight in front of her or on the street in front of the shop. It took everything in me to keep myself calm and not lose it in front of Mia. Someone has to show her the rights and wrongs in this world and apparently I’m all alone in that because he doesn’t give a shit about her, Liam.”

“I know, Louis, I know,” Liam wrapped his arms around Louis in a hug.

Louis was glad that Liam always seemed to know exactly what he needed. He was keeping him grounded, keeping him from completely losing his temper and calming him down a little.

“I know how hard it must have been for you to keep your cool and Mia will see it one day. When she is older she will appreciate all you do for her and be thankful. You did the best you could and you did right by Mia. I also know that he scares you and how you get around him.”

“Thanks for coming to say goodbye,” Louis pulled out of Liam’s arms, “you always know what to say, what to do.”

“I just love you both is all, Lou, nothing more.”

“We’ll miss you while you’re gone. I hope you get your story though and stay safe yeah?”

“I always do, Louis. How about you get to work and I’ll hang out with Mia and say bye to her until I have to go to the airport in a few?”

“Sounds good.”

***

A couple of hours into Louis shift found the shop finally slowing down. He had found it quite difficult tonight to keep Mia entertained. He was tired and struggling to keep her occupied so he could get back on task at work. So far all he managed to accomplish, barely, was serving the customers and little else. As Mia finished eating a sandwich Louis had put together for her dinner, he began to make another pot of coffee and tidy up after himself a little.

Mia was helping Louis clear the tables off by running around to each one and collecting all the garbage and throwing it out. “You are such a perfect little helper, princess. What would I do without you, Mia?” Louis giggled as he gave his little girl a high five and kissed her temple. With no one in the shop at the moment, Louis picked her up and swung her around in his arms.

“Dance, Daddy?” She asked

“I would love to dance with you, princess.” Louis smiled back at the girl as an upbeat song came across the speakers that were playing around the shop. Louis held onto Mia’s hands and the two started to move their bodies to the beat of the song. As the song came to an end they heard someone clapping.

“It Harry, Daddy” the little girl said to her confused looking father.

Louis turned around to look Harry directly in the eyes. “Hi.” he said shyly.

“Oh don’t be embarrassed Lou, you and Mia have some fine dance moves.” Harry chuckled.

“I just didn’t hear anyone come in is all. Mia is hanging out here with me this weekend.”

“Papa sick, Harry.” Mia informed her dad’s friend as she gave him a small frown.

“He is? That is too bad, sweetheart, I am sorry to hear that. It looks like you and Daddy are having fun together though.” He tried to put a positive spin on the situation to put a smile on the little girl’s face.

“Yup” She smiled up at the tall man. “We dancin’ and cleanin’” She seemed happy about doing these things with her Dad.

“I love dancing myself , maybe I could join you?” Harry reached out his hand toward the little girl. Mia took his hand in her left while still holding Louis’ in her right. She pushed the two men’s hands together in front of her.

“Harry dance, Daddy.” She smiled up at both men who were now holding hands loosely and quite awkwardly. “Mia clean mess, like Daddy.” She turned away from the men and walked over to a nearby table where Louis had left a cloth and started to wipe the tables. As she picked up the cloth she started humming and turned back to look at where she left the two men holding hands.

Harry and Louis both looked at each other and giggled as they pulled their hands apart. Harry put his back into his pockets as Louis took a few steps away from Harry.

“No dancing?” She asked as she watched the two men look at each other a little awkwardly.

“The song is over though, princess.” Louis quickly answered “Maybe next time, huh?”

“‘Nother one Daddy,” she stopped and stood straight up on the bench she was wiping, putting her hands on her hips. She waited a few seconds until a new song came on and smiled toward both men “See, now dancin.” She paused briefly before smiling at her dad “Please” she emphasized with a grin.

Louis smiled back at his daughter and felt a large, warm hand grab his again. He couldn’t help but notice how smooth and soft his hands were, how it made him feel relaxed. He had forgotten what it was like to hold hands with another man, it had been so long since Alex had been loving like that with Louis. At the end, Alex usually just touched Louis when they were in bed together or when he was trying to convince him to have sex with him. He had known for awhile it wasn't good for himself or his daughter to continue in a relationship like that.

“You heard the lady.” Harry said to him “Now dance, Lou,” he chuckled, unknowingly breaking Louis’ thoughts.

Louis and Harry found themselves dancing to the next couple of songs as Mia happily hummed and wiped tables. She was awfully proud of herself for putting a genuine smile on her daddy’s face. The two men quickly forgot the awkwardness that they had when they first started dancing together, their bodies edging closer and closer.

Louis thanked Harry for dancing. “I’m sure you didn’t come just to dance Harry. What can I get for you?”

“I was hoping to get another one of your mum’s scones actually. Maybe tea as well.”

“One cheese scone with butter and tea, coming right up.” Louis went to work gathering Harry’s order and placing it on the counter beside the cash before he rang it up.

When Harry sat down, Louis went over to where Mia was now wiping the underneath of a table. “That’s good, princess. I think that table is clean, love.” He crouched down and pointed toward another nearby table. “How about we clean this one next,” he said as he grabbed the dirty dishes and carried them to the kitchen.

When Louis came back out to help Mia finish wiping the tables, he found Mia sitting with Harry. The two were sitting side by side colouring a picture from Mia’s colouring book. He smiled to himself and couldn’t help but be thankful for Harry. He decided to take advantage of Harry keeping his daughter entertained for a few minutes and washed the dirty dishes in the kitchen.

As more time passed, Louis was ever more thankful for Harry stopping by tonight. He managed to catch up on what he needed to do as he watched the other man colour, play dolls, and even sing songs with his daughter. The time passed quickly and Harry kept Mia busy while Louis went about his job.

The next thing he knew it was getting late and he needed to get Mia to bed. “Harry, I was wondering if you would mind keeping an eye on things down here so I can run Mia upstairs and put her to bed. I usually just wait until no one else is here and lock the shop for a few minutes.”

“Sure thing Lou,” Harry nodded. “I don’t mind. Take your time, I got this.”

Once Louis helped Mia into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, he read her a quick story and tucked her into bed. As the little girl closed her eyes he gave her a kiss on her head and gently whispered, “Daddy will be downstairs in the shop closing up if you need anything, princess. I have your monitor on so just yell for me, alright?”

“Okay, Daddy. Love You. Night.” Mia reached up for a hug and placed a sloppy kiss on his cheek.

“Love you too, princess. Sleep tight, love.” Louis gently shut the bedroom door behind him as he left her to sleep. He quickly made his way back downstairs and turned on the video monitor his mum bought him after the first time Alex dropped Mia back off while he was working a closing shift. She hated that Louis left her upstairs to sleep but told him it made her feel better to know he could see her and also let him know that she understood that he had to do what he had to do.

Louis took a quick look around the shop to find that nothing had changed while he was gone, Harry was still sat with his daughter’s crayons, colouring away. “Thank you so much, Harry. It feels so good to have a friend again.”

“Not a problem, Lou.” Harry put down the crayon he was using and smiled up at Louis “What about poor Liam, isn’t he your friend too?” he giggled.

Louis gave Harry a gentle slap on the shoulder. “Of course he is. I just mean that it has been a while since there has been someone other than Liam really. It has been Mia and me against the world for the last while and as soon as my old school friends found out I was pregnant, they just stopped talking to me.”

“I get that, it must be hard. Doing everything you do for Mia and having an ex that pulls the crap he does.” Harry sits back in his seat looking back down at the picture on the table in front of him. He hoped he hadn’t gone too far into Louis’ personal life.

“It is hard sometimes but I don’t really have another option. Mia is my life and I have to do this for her. I’d love to be at a place where I could afford to send her to nursery school so I could just tell him to fuck off and leave us alone. I’m not there and to be honest I’m not sure if I ever will be.” Louis didn’t look at Harry, worried that this might be too much to put on a new friendship. Instead, he went back to work getting things ready to close the shop for the day.

“It’s okay Lou. To not have it all together I mean. I know it looks like I have my shit together but the truth is I never know what I’m doing from week to week. Niall keeps my schedule for me and all I really want is to actually be able to use one of the houses I own. It is more like I have hotels scattered in different places around the world which I don’t have to pack for. I love my job and I love all my fans and I love being on stage and being able to make music that people like. I just feel lonely so much of the time. I always have all these people surrounding me but most of the people are just doing their job.”

“Really?” Louis was shocked at Harry’s revelation. “I knew that it wouldn’t be all glamorous all the time but I never expected anyone to ever say it was lonely.”

“Not always, most of the time it is really an amazing experience. Lately though I have just felt so out of it. I wanted to be away from it all and become a normal person. That is actually why I came in here the first time, just looking to not be Harry Styles for a few moments.” Harry stood and began helping Louis tidy up what he could.

“And there I went rambling on about Li being a fan and meeting you. I am really sorry about that, Harry, I shouldn’t have asked that of you. I must have ruined it for you when you were just trying to get away and what with Alex coming in the way he did and…” Louis began to ramble again, feeling horrible about treating Harry the exact same as everyone else when he was trying to escape from it. He looked down at his feet, ashamed at how he acted.

“Don’t, Lou,” Harry interrupted. “You didn’t ruin anything. I was glad to be here and help you with Alex. I am so glad I met you. I really like hanging out with you and Mia is just so darn adorable.” He put a hand on Louis shoulder and squeezed gently, trying to comfort him.

“Well, thanks for helping me out tonight, Harry. You really didn’t have to.” Louis finally looked at Harry with a slight blush on his face and put on a small smile. “You didn’t have to do any of that, really.”

“Hey, Lou” Harry started. “That’s what friends do, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess they do.” Louis smiled at his new friend. He liked the sound of that.


	7. Chapter 7

Over the next little while, Harry and Louis found themselves spending more time together. Harry quickly became a regular customer at the coffee shop, showing up when Louis was working and they would talk between customers. He would stay late and help Louis clean on nights he was closing. He took Mia to the park a couple days when Louis had to work and for one reason or another Alex fell through with his responsibilities. Louis had only let him take her because Harry promised he would have one of his security follow them at all times. Louis enjoyed having another friend to talk to and hang out with while Liam was away on business.

At the end of his last shift Louis had an entire conversation with Georgia about how Harry was a friend and that was all. Georgia was so sure that the two men were more and had told Louis how sure she was that Harry had a thing for him. Louis knew better and had made sure on numerous occasions that he and Harry were just friends. Simply put, he never felt more than that toward Harry. Besides, he is pretty sure Liam would have an issue if he ever tried for more with his favourite singer.

He also knew all too well that Harry would have to go back on tour, across the ocean this time for the next and final leg of his tour. As much as Harry told Louis they were friends and that he would come visit again when he was back home, Louis just knew that when Harry left, their friendship would end as well. It was bitter sweet for him though, so he was soaking up all he could get from Harry while he had him around before he knew he would never talk to him again. After all, a year was a long time to not see or talk to someone. Louis saw himself as a breath of fresh air for Harry. Harry had been very open in telling him how much he needed to feel normal and how thankful he was that Louis and Mia gave him as much. Harry would express how he always felt lonely even when he was constantly surrounded by all the people he usually was. How grateful he was that his new friend saw past all the fame and knew Harry for who he was. 

Louis currently found himself lying on the floor beside Mia and the two were playing with dolls together. “No, Daddy, go swimmin’,” the little girl looked at her daddy with a frustrated glare.

“She doesn’t have a bathing suit, princess. How is she supposed to go swimming?”

Mia picked up a purple doll dress that had ribbons hanging from the waist and tossed it beside her where Louis picked it up. “Bathing suit,” she let him know.

Just then Louis heard his phone start to ring. “I’d better get that, princess. Daddy will be right back.” He quickly stood up and ran to the kitchen where he had left his phone charging. He saw Harry’s name flash across the screen so he smiled as he picked up the call. “Hey Harry, what’s going on?”

Harry had hoped that he could take Louis and Mia to dinner that night, his treat. He had spent a full day in rehearsals getting back into the swing of things for the next leg of his tour. All he wanted to do was eat and watch a movie but he didn’t want to be alone.

After some convincing, on Harry’s part, to let him pay, Louis agreed and told him that he and Mia would be ready in ten minutes and to meet him outside the shop. With that, Louis had Mia use the bathroom and clean up her toys. They both put on their shoes and Louis put his keys and phone into his pocket as they headed down stairs to meet Harry.

It wasn’t long before he pulled into a parking space and got out to open the car door for Mia and Louis to get in. The two men had decided it was easier to just leave Mia’s car seat in Harry’s car since Liam was away and they had been hanging out so much lately. Louis made sure Mia was safely strapped in. She thanked her dad and Louis climbed in himself. Harry shut the door behind Louis and walked around the car to get into the driver's seat and started driving toward the restaurant.

“How was rehearsal today?” Louis was generally curious how Harry had the energy to do it all and work the long hours he did sometimes.

“Good, I think that I am ready to get back out there. I am starting to really miss being on stage and my promo team has hyped up this next leg so much that people everywhere are buzzing about it.”

“They really are,” Louis laughed. “Mia and I had a dance party today and we must have heard like three of your songs and they kept going on and on about how you were going to be in town and how they hoped you would have time to stop by their station.”

Louis had always enjoyed listening to American radio, he felt the music they played was always better.

Harry laughed at that. “Yeah, they always go on about my schedule being so busy and hoping I can make time for them. I mean it’s already scheduled so they know I am going to be there but I guess it helps with ratings or whatever. I generally tell them I wouldn’t miss stopping in to see them and it makes everyone happy.”

“Hmmm” Louis thought about it “I guess that makes a bunch of sense really.”

Just over two hours later Harry was driving back to Louis’ place so he could put Mia to bed. The little girl had fallen asleep in the back seat of his car after an exciting evening out with Harry. The men were thankful that his fans were respectful and let Louis and Mia slip away quietly while he took pictures, chatted with fans, and signed autographs as they were leaving the restaurant.

Back at Louis’ place, he put Mia straight to bed after saying goodbye to Harry. Louis decided against a movie with Harry, telling him he was just too tired and was going to head to bed. Truth be told Louis just didn’t want Harry to see the size of his place or find out that the only bed in their very tiny place was all for Mia.

When Louis walked out of Mia’s room, he looked at all the papers and various bills that he had laid out on his kitchen counter. He was distracted lately and hadn’t been keeping up to date on things. Tonight was going to be a late night because he had to shuffle some money around and make sure ends were going to meet at the end of the month. Sometimes he found himself coming up short at month end so he would call Georgia or his mum and ask to take some extra shifts from them. Neither one usually mind letting Louis have a shift here or there.

It wasn’t only bills Louis had been looking at lately; he had also started looking into whether going to school was ever going to be an option for him. He never started out to work at the shop forever, nor did he want to stay living here with Mia forever. He wanted to be able to find a better job and a bigger place to live. He wanted to give Mia the world and never wanted her to do without because of choices he made. His daycare situation alone was enough to make him think it would never work but Louis kept hope that one day he could do it all.

***

Louis woke up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. He returned to the couch and lay back down. Before closing his eyes he picked up his phone to check the time and noticed he had received a text from Harry sometime while he was sleeping. He opened his phone, squinting at the brightness of the screen before turning the light level down lower and opening the text from Harry.

_Hey Lou, I know you are probably sleeping but I wanted to let you know how much fun I have been having getting to know you. Your daughter is just so precious and you are doing a great job with her. My schedule is kind of hectic these next couple of days before I return to my tour so I’m not sure when I will see you again. I will make sure to at least stop by to say goodbye before I leave though._

Louis smiled at the text and the thoughtful words he had said. Louis wished that Harry didn’t have to go and they could hang out more. He found him to be such an interesting man and was so talented. He wondered why he didn’t enjoy his music more before he met him, when Liam would shove it down his throat every chance he got.

_I feel so much the same Harry. I have really enjoyed getting to know you as well, you are such an interesting person. I love hearing all your stories about the crazy fans and things that you’ve done and seen. You had better not leave without saying goodbye, I’ll kick your arse. Also, thank you for everything. Dinner was delicious and Mia enjoyed her ice cream too. You really didn’t have to take us out, I would have managed to cook something edible you know._

With that Louis locked his phone again and plugged it into the wall to finish charging. He laid his head down on his pillow and closed his eyes. He was asleep again in no time and stayed that way until the sun woke him in the morning. As he opened his eyes he could hear his daughter singing from her room, letting him know she was awake.

Louis went to the bathroom to relieve himself before slowly opening the door to Mia’s room. “Good Morning, princess” he smiled at her and she ran toward him with her arms open.

“Mornin’, Daddy.”

“We are going to go to Nanny’s in a little bit to see your Aunties and Uncle Ernie. Nanny is going to make us a fabulous lunch.” He told his daughter their plans for the day as he picked up her little body and placed it on his lap.

“Show Nanny big girl pants?” she asked excitedly

“I think you should. She will be so proud of you. What do you say we get some breakfast and get dressed? We will walk to Nanny’s when we are ready.”

“Okay” is all she said before hopping off Louis lap and thumping her little feet to the kitchen. “Cereal today?” she asked as Louis followed her into the kitchen.

The two went about their morning, having a small chat over breakfast about the things Mia was going to play with at her Nanny’s. Louis’ sisters always loved playing with Mia, especially the younger ones. When they finished eating, Louis cleaned up as he sent Mia to go to the bathroom and put on the clean clothes he set out for her to wear earlier. Soon the two were all ready for the day and Mia had chosen to bring a few things to play with. His mum lived half way across town and Mia wasn’t big enough to make it the whole way walking on her own just yet so Louis always took the stroller with them so she could ride when she got tired.

***

Louis was sat on the front porch with his mum and two oldest sisters drinking tea while the three youngest kids took a nap. The older of the set of twins were in their rooms painting their nails and likely talking with their friends. Louis listened to his mum and sisters talking in the background as he and Harry were messaging back and forth for the better part of an hour.

As Louis finished his tea and set his cup on the small table beside him, his sisters both got up and gathered the empty cups offering to take them inside. They said they had some things to do and left him and his mum sat together outside. It was just then that he got another message from Harry.

_So there's this party I have to go to tomorrow night. I was thinking since Alex should have Mia for the night you might want to come with me. Thought you could use a night out and have fun for a change? I understand if you don’t want to and it’s a low key thing so there shouldn’t be too many paps there. You don’t have to, I understand if you just want a quiet night to yourself, I just thought it might be nice to have one last night to hang out before I disappear for a year._

Louis smiled as he finished reading the message, deciding to think about it for a little while before giving him an answer. His mum noticed the look on her son’s face and wondered what was going on. “What was that about, Lou?”

“Oh nothing, just a message from a friend is all.” He tried to hide his smile.

“Right, I’m your mum remember and I know when you’re trying to hide something. You’ve been distracted for the last hour and I haven’t heard from you much these past couple of weeks. Since I know Liam is away, there must be someone new you aren’t telling me about.”

“Just a friend, mum, nothing more.”

“You sure? Liam sends you all kinds of messages and you’ve never smiled like that before,” she pushed a little further.

“Harry is just a friend I’ve been hanging out with lately. He took Mia and me for dinner last night because he is leaving in a few days. He just asked if I wanted to go to a party tomorrow night since Alex will have Mia anyway. Nothing big and he is just a _friend_.” He emphasized the last word.

“Alright Lou, I won’t push the issue. I just want to make sure you are making smart decisions and you are thinking about that little girl in there is all. I don’t want you to get hurt or get the two of you into another mess. You’re still dealing with Alex’s crap after all.”

“I know, I know, mum. I get it okay. I fucked up with Alex and you don’t let me forget it. I think about Mia all the time and that’s why Liam has been my only friend. It’s why all I do is work when I can so I can give Mia everything. She means the world to me, mum, and I will do anything for her. I’m just tired of only being her Dad and not having a life. Harry is sweet and Mia loves him and we are friends, mum. We’ve hung out in public places a few times over the last couple of weeks while he’s been on break. He is leaving in a couple days and he’ll likely forget all about us.”

“Oh sweetheart, you are a great Dad and I see all you do for Mia. She is a sweet girl and that’s because of you. You are right, you did make some mistakes, huge ones at that but nevertheless you have dealt with the consequences the best you can.”

It was then that Louis heard Mia’s voice talking inside so he used it as his excuse to exit the current conversation with his mum, not wanting to hear a lecture about all the things she doesn’t approve of in his life and how he had fucked up and how she had warned him about Alex. Louis just stood up and went inside as he heard his mum go silent.

That night before bed he made his decision and sent a message to Harry before falling asleep.

_Sounds like fun Harry. I could use a night out to forget about my problems._

***

The next day seemed to go by quite quickly. Louis and Mia made pancakes for breakfast which resulted in bath time to get all the sticky syrup off Mia before she dressed herself for the day. She had deemed today to be Princess Mia day and wore her most beautiful dress. She enjoyed that her dad played along and he always let her order him around a little bit without taking her power too far. The morning was full of play and giggles. Louis had forgotten about his plans with Harry and that he had to go into work for a couple hours to cover the beginning of Georgia’s shift.

Louis heard his phone ping while Mia slipped off to the bathroom. He opened it to see it was a message from Alex.

_I’m behind schedule today so I am just leaving now. Traffic doesn’t seem too bad so I’ll be there shortly. You’d better be waiting out front._

“Shit” Louis quietly let out. “Mia, princess…” he called out as he took off to her bedroom and pulled clothes out for her “…we have to hurry up. Papa will be here shortly and we need to meet him outside.”

“Me wear dress?” she questioned her dad as she held out the bottom of her dress and did a twirl in front of him.

“I’m sorry princess, you know Papa doesn’t like it when you wear your nice clothes when you’re out with him. I got out your princess shirt though.” He frowned at having to say no to his daughter.

“Yeah,” she said and looked towards the floor.

Soon enough the two were ready to go and made their way downstairs and through the shop. They walked down the block a little ways and stopped to sit on the empty bench, not having to wait very long before Alex pulled up in front of them.

“Thanks, Alex,” Lou said barely above a whisper.

“What?” The other man yelled back grabbing the little pink backpack out of Louis’ hands forcefully.

“Thank you, for taking Mia overnight tonight even though I know it’s not your first choice.” Louis said loud enough for Alex to hear. He crouched down and smiled at Mia giving her a kiss and a hug and saying goodbye as he buckled her in safely. Before closing the door, he quietly leaned into her ear, “Please be good for Papa, listen to what he tells you, princess. It is important Daddy knows you’re a good girl.”

“Oh, I’m not taking her,” Alex responded without looking at either of them. “I’m dropping her off at my parents’ house for the night.”

“Oh.” Louis was disappointed. He should know by now that Alex would never be so kind and passive while picking up their daughter. I mean he canceled his days a third of the time for stupid reasons.

“I’ve got a new buddy of mine going to come round tonight, gonna fuck his brains out.” Alex wiggled his eyebrows at Louis.

“How lovely.” Louis wasn’t really sure what response he was expected to give but was secretly glad it wasn’t him that Alex was bugging. It also made sense as to why Alex was acting the way he was at the moment. It also lets him breathe a little knowing that her grandparents were going to be taking care of her tonight. She was always safe and had a great time at her other grandparents’ house, which relaxed Louis. He also knew that Mia wouldn’t end up getting dropped off and that he could let loose and actually have a good time tonight.

“Didn’t want her interrupting us, you know.”

“Yeah,” Louis said loudly, “not really,” he said much quieter so that he wouldn’t be heard for fear of Alex’ reaction.

Once Alex drove off Louis headed back inside the shop to start his short shift. Georgia had a class running late today so she had asked Louis to fill in for her until she could get there. She promised she would be there as quickly as possible so Louis could get ready for his big ‘date’ as she called it. It didn’t matter to her how much Louis had tried to convince her that morning that he was just going to a casual party with his friend.

So a few hours later Georgia came rolling into the shop, apologetic for taking longer than she planned. She threw her stuff on the counter in the back and tied her apron around her waist in a huff and grabbed Louis in a hug.

“Thank you so much for saving my ass today, Lou.” She smiled hugely at him as she grabbed some dirty dishes and began cleaning them. “My lecturer was long winded and then the girl I am working with on a project stopped me and wanted to chat about it and I just couldn’t get out of there quick enough.”

“It was nothing, Georgia. You save my butt all the damn time so I was pleased to pay you back for once,” Louis grinned.

“That is enough about me. You go get your hot little self in the shower and make sure you put on those tight skinny jeans that make you look so fuckable,” she yelled as she went to the backroom with more dishes smirking towards Louis.

He couldn’t help but laugh as he hung his apron on the hook and made his way upstairs to get ready to go out with Harry. He quickly hopped in the shower making sure to clean every crease and crevice of his body.

With a towel wrapped around his waist, he looked at himself in the mirror, trying to decide whether he should shave or not. In the end he decided that he wouldn’t, really enjoying the way he looked with a bit of scruff on his face. As his hair was drying he used his hands to put some product through, styling it in a purposeful messy look for the night.

He walked to the closet in Mia’s bedroom where he kept his clothes. He pulled on a clean black pair of tight boxers and managed to wiggle his way into the jeans Georgia made mention of earlier, figuring if she said they looked so good on him who was he to argue really. Looking through his shirts he finally settled on a plain red one that hung perfectly low at the front, showing off one of his many tattoos, this one across the top of his chest that reads ‘It Is What It Is’. Before having Mia, Louis spent quite a bit of his money on getting many tattoos. Most of them being on his arms, it was something Louis always loved on a man.

When he finally deemed himself as good as it was going to get he headed into the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. As much as he wasn’t hungry, he figured he had better get something into his belly before he started drinking. He knew it wouldn’t be good for him or Harry if he didn’t. Liam was always the one to warn him of what happens when he doesn’t eat before drinking.

Before too long Louis decided he couldn’t just hang around alone any longer. He opted to go downstairs and wait for Harry. This way he could get Georgia’s opinion on how he looked while he still had time to fix whatever she thought he’d need to.

“Damn, Mr. Tomlinson.” She whistled as she saw Louis come down the stairs. “If you weren’t gay I’d close this shop and jump your bones right now,” she laughed.

“Soooo,” he looked hesitant, “I look okay then?”

“More than okay, Lou, you’re hot,” she said standing with her hands on her hips.

“Too much though?” he wondered out loud as his face started to flush a little at her compliments.

“NO,” she yelled “Not at all. Harry is going to salivate when he sees you.”

“For the last time, Georgia, we are just friends,” he huffed “I mean even if I had a thing for him, Harry would never want someone like me. I don’t even know if he swings my way.”

“Stop doing that to yourself, Lou. You are an amazing guy.” She walked toward him and used her right hand to lift his chin so he would look at her. “You are handsome as all hell and you work hard. You have the most beautiful little girl that you are raising basically alone and you’re killing it. Don’t put yourself down, Lou, everyone has made mistakes and just because you were dating one asshole doesn’t mean great guys like Harry wouldn’t want you.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Louis didn’t seem convinced but he didn’t care. He was looking forward to spending Harry’s last night before leaving for tour with him. He couldn’t wait to have a couple of drinks, it felt like it had been so long. So long since he wasn’t Daddy or Alex’ ex. No matter what happened tonight he was looking forward to just being Louis again. It had been far too long since he’d been out and Liam would likely even be surprised he was actually going tonight.


	8. Chapter 8

It wasn’t long before Harry came through the door of the shop, looking around the customers that were there to find Louis on the cash register behind the counter serving a lovely older woman. When Harry finally set his eyes on his friend, it seemed as though Louis had watched him come through the door.

Louis smiled at Harry and couldn’t help but feel butterflies in his stomach at the thought of partying with this handsome young man. He quickly noticed he was also wearing a pair of black jeans that didn’t do anything to hide the rather large bulge hanging to the left of his front. It was the shirt that he was wearing that Louis was impressed with. It was a sheer black blouse, that had a few bunches of red flowers here and there, and his sleeves were bunched up to his elbows showing off a few tattoos that were littered over his forearms. Louis could see a peek-a-boo of one of the laurels he knew Harry had on his stomach. His nipples, well there they were. Harry was even confident enough to leave the top 3 buttons undone. His hair was styled much like it usually was, curls left hanging down, pushed over to the side.

“Hi, you must be Harry,” Georgia reached out to shake his hand. “Louis’ been telling me about all your adventures. Sounds like you’ve had a great time these past couple weeks.” She looked over her shoulder to where Louis was now stood beside her and in front of Harry giving him a smirk and a wink.

“Oi! Enough of that Georgia,” Louis quickly snapped at her “Don’t you have work to do?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she rolled her eyes at him. “You two kids have fun tonight and be safe.” She leaned in and whispered into Louis’ ear before she went back to her customers, “use protection,” she laughed as she walked away from them both.

Louis’ face went beet red and Harry just smiled at him. “You’re quiet tonight,” he said in an attempt to take the focus off of himself and forget what Georgia had just said.

“You...umm…you look,” Harry stuttered, “you look amazing, Lou.” A big smile spread across his face showing his dimples as he took a final look at Louis. “You ah, you ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Louis shyly replied. “Thanks, I wasn’t sure what to wear really. You never really gave me any details about this party we’re going to.”

“Oh shit, yeah,” Harry looked a tad embarrassed. “I never even thought, I’m so sorry.” He reached out his hand and gently rubbed Louis’ arm as he began to walk back to the door. “Let’s get in the car and I’ll tell you about it.”

***

Harry and Louis got into the back of a black SUV with blacked out windows. Harry gave Louis a few more details on this party and who would be there and that he decided a driver would be the safest choice for the night so that he could have some drinks with Louis. The drive was about 45 minutes and as they pulled up Harry spotted some paps lurking out front. The two men decided it best that Harry go through the front door and deal with the paps since he was used to doing so. Louis would wait a few minutes and meet Harry around back and sneak in that way.

The plan went off without a hitch and Louis was amazed at how well Harry was with the people trying to gain his attention and get a photo of him and asking him all sorts of crazy questions. When he got inside he could hear loud music in the distance and could already smell the stuffy air that lingered around them. “Thanks Harry. I could never have been so calm trying to make my way through all those people like you just did.”

Harry giggled and told Louis it was nothing, that he dealt with that sort of thing on a regular basis so it wasn’t any sort of big deal. “Come Lou, we came to party so let’s go have fun yeah?” He reached for Louis’ hand and led him down the back hall toward the music and smell of sweaty bodies already bopping about all over the place.

As soon as the two men walked through the door to where the party was taking place, Harry was handed two shots. He quickly passed one to Louis and held his up. “Cheers mate!” He smiled and quickly threw back the shot putting the glass on a nearby table and making his way with Louis to the bar for a proper drink.

***

Two, ok maybe three hours later Louis and Harry were having a great time dancing together on the dance floor. Both had lost count of how many drinks they had consumed and Louis made Harry drink a bottle of water before having any more alcohol.

Louis wasn’t completely drunk, after all he could drink his fair share of alcohol before having Mia. He was feeling happy, relaxed and just having a great time being himself again without worrying about anyone else. Harry had introduced him to some people he knew that they came across between the dance floor and the bar, none of whom he had ever heard of before.

Harry leaned in to Louis, his soft lips brushing against his ear making his body shiver slightly. “Did I tell you that you look really good tonight, like I mean hot. You look hot tonight, Lou,” he yelled then pulled away to look Louis in the eye.

“Thanks, Hazza,” Louis yelled over the music back to Harry, “Georgia told me I should wear these pants, that they make me look fuckable.” Louis went a shade of red as he realized what he had just said. Maybe he was a little more intoxicated than he thought and he just hoped Harry couldn’t hear what he had said over the loud music.

Harry leaned back in to Louis’ ear, “Well she isn’t wrong,” Louis could feel him smirk against his ear.

Louis wasn’t really sure what to do or say after that but thankfully he didn’t have to say or do anything.

“You want another drink?” Harry shouted holding up his empty water bottle.

“Uh.. yeah… I mean sure, can you get me one of those blue slushy things I’ve seen around?” Louis was thankful to have a moment to collect himself while Harry went for more drinks.

When Harry finally got back to Louis with their drinks, he found him dancing with some random guy. Louis hadn’t noticed Harry until there was a cold drink being held against his sweaty back. “What the fuck!” Louis jumped into the guy who just started getting uncomfortably close to him on the dance floor. When he turned his head he smiled, “Hazza! Thanks for my drink, babe.”

When the stranger heard Louis refer to Harry as babe he looked shocked and quickly turned around and left. Louis and Harry watched as he got halfway across the dance floor and began to grind up against someone new.

“Who the hell was that?” Harry asked

“No clue.” Louis shrugged. “Talk about being saved by the bell, he came up out of nowhere and just started getting all up in my personal space.”

“Creep,” Harry exclaimed.

“Not to mention he reeked like onions too,” Louis laughed. “Thank you for saving my life, Hazza.”

“Anytime, Babe.”

Louis smiled at the nickname and wrapped his free hand around Harry’s waist, pulling him closer while he took a sip of his drink. He leaned into his ear, “Think this is gonna be my last, I can admit that I am happily drunk and don’t want to have a hangover all day tomorrow. Mia comes back around lunch.”

“No problem, we can get out of here when we are done our drinkies.” Harry reached his free arm around Louis’ waist as ‘Pony’ by Ginuwine came blasting over the speakers. “I love this song,” he gave Louis a dirty smirk, making Louis laugh.

Louis pressed his body against Harry’s and maybe it was just the alcohol talking but the temperature in this place just went up a couple degrees. “Then sing it to me, Hazza,” he sticks his tongue out and gently licks up the side of Harry’s ear before he pulls away to take another sip of his drink.

Without missing a beat Harry looks Louis directly in the eye and starts singing with the music, swaying his hips side to side ever so gently.

_I’m just a bachelor_

_I’m looking for a partner_

_Someone who knows how to ride_

_Without even falling off_

_Gotta be compatible_

_Takes me to my limits_

_Boy when I break you off_

_I promise that you won’t wanna get off_

Louis could feel his face get warm and knew that it was most likely completely red now, especially with the look he was getting from Harry. Harry stopped moving and grabbed Louis again, turning him around so his front was pressed tightly against Louis’ back. Both men took a few more sips before Harry’s head was beside Louis’s again as the chorus began. Harry continued to sing into Louis’ ear as he moved his hips from side to side, pressed against Louis’ beautifully round ass.

_If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony_

_My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it_

_If you’re horny, let’s do it, ride it, my pony_

_My saddle’s waitin’, come and jump on it_

As the next verse and chorus played again, Louis spun himself in Harry’s arms so they were face to face again and began to grind his hips forward. Slotting one of his legs between Harry’s, Louis could feel his dick begin to rub on Harry’s thigh and could feel Harry’s rub on his. Harry leaned in close again and Louis could feel his lips brush against his ear, making goosebumps run through his entire body before Harry seductively used his voice to continue the song.

_If we’re gonna get nasty baby_

_First we’ll show and tell_

_Till I reach your ponytail_

_Lurk all over and through you baby_

_Until we reach the stream_

_You’ll be on my jockey team_

Just as Louis felt himself start to grow, he gently pushed Harry away and finished his drink, handing it to a girl he saw walking by with a tray who was collecting empty cups. When he turned back to Harry, he saw a frown slowly turn into a smile before he barely hears him shout, “Oh God Lou, I thought I’d done something wrong.”

“Never babe, you make me feel good,” Louis smiled and turned his body as the music kept playing. Louis felt Harry come close behind him, wrap both of his arms around his waist and gently tug him closer. Louis bent a little and stuck his ass out, knowing it’s his best feature, and pressed it into Harry’s lap.

As the two men continued dancing together, it wasn’t long before he could feel a poke coming from behind him. He leaned back, pressing his back against Harry’s chest and turned his head to the side, “Ready to take me home Hazza?”

“Yeah, I mean if you’re ready to leave then we can go.”

“I am,” he turned so he was facing Harry again, smiling as he reached for his hand.

“Okay, you want to sneak out the back again? There is still most likely a pap or two waiting outside. They usually wait around hoping to catch me off guard with a juicy story.”

Louis hesitated before saying, “Nah, I’ll be your juicy story,” he laughed as he intertwined his fingers with Harry’s and pulled him toward the front door.

Just as they reached the door Harry stopped and pulled his hands away. “I don’t kiss and tell, Lou. You wait here for a few minutes.”

“I understand.”

Harry looked toward the bouncers who were holding the doors closed. “I’ll go get in the car and have them pull up front and wait for you. These guys will tell you when it’s been long enough and open the doors for you. Just keep your head down slightly and don’t answer any of their questions.”

“Alright,” Louis hoped Harry didn’t sense his disappointment in having to sneak out without Harry by his side.

“Sorry, babe, I’ll see you soon though yeah?”

“Yeah, see you soon Hazza,” just before the doors started to open to let Harry outside, he turned back toward Louis and smiled. He leans into him and gently puts his lips on Louis’, kissing him for the first time. He pulled away smiling at Louis and nodded to the men holding the doors.

***

About an hour later, Louis felt the car they were riding in come to a stop. He pulled away from his snogg with Harry and looked out the window to see they had made it to his house. Louis suddenly felt butterflies in his stomach and a tad light headed. He has had a really fabulous night with Harry, flirting around on the dance floor and some of the best kisses he’s ever had during the car ride home. Now that they were sitting outside the shop he was beginning to get nervous about bringing Harry upstairs.

Up until now Louis had kept things with Harry in the shop or elsewhere because he was embarrassed at where he and his daughter live. At this point he supposed he just needed to believe that Harry really was as humble as he portrayed himself. Without any further thought about it, he decided he’d better ask Harry to follow him upstairs before he backed out and ruined everything. He looked behind him to where Harry had scooted over and was sitting in the seat he just got out of. He offered his hand out to Harry as he quietly asked, “Well, are you coming?”

“Thought you’d never ask,” Harry smiled at him as he reached to grab Louis’ hands and get out of the car. He turned back and bent over, sticking his head back into the car’s open window and looked at his driver. “I’m going to be here tonight so you don’t have to stick around. Can you just pick me up to go to the airport here tomorrow? We can swing by my place and pick up my stuff quickly on the way. Thank you so much.” He gave the driver his token smile and reached his free hand toward him to shake his hand before giving all of his attention back to Louis.

As Harry’s gaze turned back to him, Louis’ stomach flipped. He took his hand back and reached to unlock the door of the shop, letting both of them through the door before shutting it and locking it again. He slowly led Harry across the shop to the bottom of the stairs, stopping briefly to look up and felt his nerves start to rise again. He knew he couldn’t go back now but feels maybe a warning will do him good, just so Harry knows what he’s in for. As he began the climb up the stairs, Harry in tow, he said, “You need to know that it… my place that is… like… don’t expect much… I mean please don’t judge me. Short of a shelter it was my only option for Mia.”

Louis reached for the handle of the door at the top of the staircase and felt Harry stop behind him. _This is it, he thought, now I’ve scared him off and he is going to turn and leave, I’m never going to see him again._ “Lou, stop. I don’t care about any of that, really,” Harry gave Louis a reassuring smile that settled his stomach a little. “Honestly, babe, I like you and I just want to be with you. I leave for the airport tomorrow and I’ll be gone for like a year. I could be anywhere tonight but I’m here with you. I _want_ to be here with you and I really don’t care what your place looks like, please don’t be embarrassed to show me, Lou.”

“Okay,” Louis let out a shaky breath. “I get that and I’m so glad you chose to spend the night with me. I just need you to know that it really wasn’t meant to live in at all. It used to be the office for the shop until all the shit went down between Alex and me and then mum let me help convert this so we had a place to live. I don’t even have a bedroom, Harry,” he looked down at his raggedy worn shoes and then over to Harry’s beautiful new brown boots and sighed.

Harry reached over and Louis could feel his soft hands grip his face and pull it towards his own and the two men kissed for a few seconds before Harry pulled away. “It’s okay, babe, let’s go in and have some fun before I have to go in like 12 hours, yeah?”

Without wasting a second more, Louis opened the door and stepped inside his clean apartment, although that might be too grand a word for it. He took off his shoes and threw his phone and keys on the kitchen counter before turning to take in Harry’s reaction. Harry just smiled at him, “It’s lovely Lou, perfect for you and Mia really.”

Louis shook his head and offered Harry some tea. Harry declined and walked toward Louis, putting his hands on his waist and pulling him in close, pressing their lips together and gently kissing. “Now, why don’t you show me where you do sleep then because I’m starting to get really hot and I’d like to take your shirt off,” Harry mumbled against Louis lips.

Louis pulled back. “You’re looking at it,” is all he responded.

“Where?” Harry looked puzzled. “Here, in your living room, like on the couch or something?”

Without saying a word Louis walked around the couch and started removing the cushions and stacking them against a bookshelf that contained mostly things for Mia and a few books that he does own for himself. Turning back to the couch he reached for the handle and pulled it up and out, the pull out bed unfolding in place. Fresh clean sheets on the mattress already, Louis took a couple of steps down the hall and opened a door, bringing two pillows and a blanket back with him and arranging them properly on the bed. Once the bed was completely made, Louis sat down on it and gently ran a hand on the space beside him looking up at Harry. “Here, when I’m bothered to pull it out. Most days I’m too tired and just fall asleep on the couch itself.”

Harry just smiled at Louis and walked toward him. Louis opened his legs slightly so Harry could slot nicely between them and looked up into his beautiful green eyes. He reached up to Harry’s waist and untucked his shirt and pushed it up, hoping Harry would get the hint to take it off. He did and then reached his own hands down to reach for Louis’ shirt. Louis quickly pulled off his shirt as well and tossed it on the floor beside him before reaching up to Harry and pulling him onto the bed.

Harry fell onto Louis’ lap and looked into his deep blue eyes as he moved his body around so he was straddling Louis, one leg bent on each side, and moved to close the gap again. The two men sat there kissing passionately until Harry finally licked across Louis’ bottom lip asking for entrance. Louis didn’t waste a moment and opened his mouth, allowing Harry’s tongue to dip inside and explore Louis’. Louis put his own tongue to work as well and massaged their tongues together. He didn’t even realize until he felt his head hit one of the pillows that Harry had pushed him backwards and was now laying on top of him, holding himself up with and a hand on either side of his head.


	9. Chapter 9

Louis reached one of his hands around Harry and gently rubbed up and down his back, feeling his soft skin was already a bit sticky with sweat from earlier in the night. He let his other hand spread through the back of Harry’s head, separating his fingers as he ran them through his hair before settling them in a handful of curls. He could hear Harry moan lowly as his tongue retreated into his own mouth and Harry popped off of his lips, their mixed saliva running a small string between them.

“Fuck,” he heard Harry say as he opened his eyes and felt him wiggle his body lower. “You taste so good, Lou.” He suddenly felt lips around his nipple and looked down to meet Harry’s eyes and his devious smile, dimples popping. Harry opened his mouth slightly and flicked his tongue over Louis’ nipple as one of his hands reached up to twist and gently tug on the other.

“Those fucking dimples are killing me,” Louis all but moaned as he laid his head back on the pillow. Reaching his hands up to rest on the top of Harry’s head he gently pushed him further south, to where his body was craving more attention.

“Relax, Lou,” Harry giggled between kisses down Louis’ torso, stopping at the top of his jeans. “I’ve got you babe, I’ll take care of you.”

“Need you,” Louis was aware of how desperate he sounded and is also fully aware that Harry hadn’t really even touched him yet. Had he not felt Harry’s hands move to undo his jeans and pull them down he would have ripped them off himself.

Just as Harry managed to wiggle Louis’ jeans down his legs and tossed them aside, Louis had his hands in his boxers. Louis couldn’t help himself and needed some relief so he wrapped his hand around his shaft and let out a deep breath as he enjoyed the slow, rough drag of his own hand.

Louis was quickly getting lost in himself until Harry, clearing his throat, brought him back to the present and he pulled his hands out of his boxers. “Sorry, I got carried away.”

“I am supposed to be the one to do that, you can get yourself off any other time, Lou.” Harry put on the worst pout face Louis had ever seen.

Louis laughed at Harry. “Well then get on it, mate,” he looked him directly in the eyes and reached out to pull Harry close enough so he could reach the buttons on his pants and take them off .“It isn’t going to make itself come, now is it.”

It was Harry’s turn to let out a laugh as he tossed his own pants aside and leaned down so he was laying on top of Louis again. Louis could feel Harry’s hot breath against his neck and on his ear, he could feel goosebumps spread over his body as Harry’s voice got really low and heard his slow drawl, “I guess we'll see about that won’t we.”

Louis closed his eyes so he could hear Harry’s rhythmic breathing and he felt his lips brush his ear and kiss down his neck, reaching his collarbone. He could feel the sting of love bites being made and then Harry’s tongue licking the spots he just left. Louis moved his hands, feeling the smoothness of Harry’s skin and leaving a trail of goosebumps with every touch. He slid his hands down Harry’s sides and under the elastic of his boxers, running his hands around to grab a handful of Harry’s bare ass.

Harry let out a squeak and Louis could feel Harry’s hips lurch forward, pressing his hard cock against his hip as he continued sucking on Louis’ collarbone. He took the opportunity to push Harry’s boxers down as far as he could reach until Harry kicked them off the rest of the way. Then Louis pushed down his own and threw them to the floor as well. Both men let out another moan as they could feel their bare cocks slap against the other’s bare skin.

“Touch me, Hazza,” Louis whined as his hands kneaded Harry’s ass and pulled his hips closer to his own, pressing them together.

Harry took his lips off of Louis’s body and placed them on his lips for a couple of simple kisses as one of his hands reached down between their bodies. Louis could feel Harry’s much larger hand grab his own hard cock and his at the same time and slowly jerk them both off.

This was a new feeling for Louis, none of his previous partners cared much for formalities and just got right to business. Louis knew that he wouldn’t last long if Harry kept up this slow pace. He reached up and wrapped his hands around Harry’s face and pulled him down once again, immediately licking at his bottom lip. Louis quickly stuck his tongue into Harry’s open mouth, hoping that if he concentrated on kissing Harry he could calm down a tad and not finish too soon.

It seemed to work for a few moments but Louis could feel the familiar heat rising in his stomach and decided he needed to tell Harry. “Babe, please don’t take this the wrong way,” Louis started before he gently pushed Harry back a little, putting a few inches between them, “I’m so close to coming and I don’t want to like this. I’m gonna need you to speed things up a little.”

“Yeah, okay,” Harry ran his hands through his damp hair, pushing it off his face. “Alright, faster yeah.”

“Mhmm,” Louis nodded, “I want you to fuck me, please Harry,” Louis begged.

Harry leaned down and left a kiss on Louis’ cheek. “Yeah, course I will. I’ve got you.” He stood up on the floor and looked around the room for a moment, looking for something. “Um, Lou, do you got stuff?”

Louis sat up and got off the bed, walked to the kitchen and brought down a tin that was hiding in the back of a top cupboard. Harry looked on with intrigue as Louis pulled a fairly new bottle of lube from the tin and Harry burst out laughing.

“That’s convenient isn’t it,” he was still giggling, “Lou, why the hell do you keep the lube way the fuck up there where you’re barely tall enough to reach it?”

“Hey, I’m big okay?” he said, trying to make himself look taller than he actually was as he walked back over and handed the bottle to Harry. “That’s all I’ve got. Do you have a condom?”

“Shit… um yeah… sure… let me check,” he looked flustered for a moment and fumbled his wallet out of his pants. “Figured the amount of times Alex harasses you, you’d keep some around.”

“Whoa, I don’t ever have sex with him you know, Harold.”

“It’s Harry actually, not Harold,” he looked apologetic for getting Louis all riled up and defensive.

“Besides, I have a two year old and nowhere to keep them where she won’t find them,” Louis said laying back down on the bed and on his back. Tilting his head as he watched Harry hopefully looking through his wallet.

“How very responsible of you, Louis,” Harry nodded and smiled.

“Thanks,” Louis gave Harry a proud smile at the compliment.

Harry pulled something out of his wallet that Louis thought resembled a condom, he couldn’t be sure until he saw the look of triumph on Harry’s face. “Aha!” He smiled and got on his hands and knees, crawling over top of Louis again to kiss him once more, “Found one. Provided it has been there for years and quite possibly expired but I guess it’s better than nothing,” he shrugged. “What do you think?” he asked, holding the worn condom wrapper up for Louis to see.

“I mean, you’re not leaving until you fuck me and it’s better than the one I provided so let’s do it,” Louis exclaimed as he reached for the wrapper and ripped it open with his fingers. He pulled the condom out and handed it back to Harry. “You still hard?”

“Course I am,” Harry smirked and took it from Louis’ fingers and rolled it down the length of his hard cock.

Harry picked up the bottle of lube that he tossed onto the bed when he went searching for his wallet and opened the cap. He squirted a generous amount on his fingers and looked at Louis. “You ready? Still want to do this?” He waited for Louis to say yes before rubbing some of the lube from his fingers around Louis’ tight hole.

“Just take it slow, it’s been a while,” Louis said quietly. “Maybe kiss me while you do it.”

“Just tell me if you want to stop and we stop, okay?”

After Louis nodded his head and leaned up to connect his lips with Harry’s, he felt Harry rub his fingers around the ring of muscles between his cheeks. Before too long Harry slowly inserted a finger and gently pulled it back out before he pushed it back in again, over and over until he felt Louis relax again. “You ready for another?”

“I think so, yeah,” Louis had his eyes focused on Harry, looking into his now dark green ones.

Over the next few moments, Harry had Louis squirming around his fingers asking for a third and moaning for more. When Louis started moaning for Harry to hurry up and get inside of him, Harry removed all of his fingers and wiped them on the bed sheet before putting some lube on the top of his dick. Louis’ eyes were a dark blue, watching Harry lube himself up and arrange himself so his tip of his cock was lined up with his entrance.

“I’ll go as slow as you want, Lou, you tell me what feels good, okay?” Harry was so gentle with Louis and very patient. “You sure this is what you want, you’re okay with this, yeah?”

Louis very much appreciated Harry making sure he was comfortable with everything that was happening and what they were about to do. He really just needed to feel Harry inside of him. It had been so long since he had someone inside of him that he had to admit he was a little nervous. He nodded at Harry, “I really do, Harry.”

With that, Louis felt Harry put the head of his cock all the way inside him at once then stilled. He could feel Harry’s hands coming up to his face and caressing his cheeks, leaning down to place kisses all over Louis’ face. “More,” was all Louis had to say for Harry to slowly and gently push himself all the way inside, pausing to wait for Louis to adjust to Harry’s size.

Louis hissed, “Fuck, Harry, you are so big.”

“Is it too much, Lou?” Harry looked at him worried. “I can pull out and I’ll suck you off babe, it’s totally fine.”

“No, no, NO,” Louis shouted, “I just needed a minute to adjust, it’s been a while. You’re good now, you can move but start slow, please.”

Harry moaned softly as he slowly pulled his hips back so just the tip was inside Louis before he gently pushed it back in. “Oh god, Lou, you feel so good, babe.”

After a few thrusts Louis was really into it again, he felt so good full of Harry. “Yeah H-Harry, feels so good for me too.”

“Yeah, you okay now?” Harry put a few more kisses on Louis lips then asked, “Can I speed up?”

“Faster,” Louis pleaded, “please go faster.”

After that, there was silence, the only sounds being their rapid breathing, a moan here and there, and the slapping of Harry’s balls against Louis ass as he thrust all the way back in. Louis could feel the heat rise again in his stomach and knew that his end was near, “Harry,” he moaned, “I’m almost there, faster.”

Harry didn’t waste much time and thrust in and out as fast as he could, carefully pounding Louis with every thrust in. Louis closed his eyes as he felt one of Harry’s hands reach between them and around his hard cock, stroking him with the rhythm of his thrusts. It was all Louis needed to let go. He came hard, spewing strings of hot come all over Harry’s hand and both their stomachs as he loudly called out Harry’s name. That was all Harry needed to push himself over the edge, watching Louis’ face and hearing him call his name, he came just after Louis with a low, almost animalistic grunt.

After collapsing on top of Louis, both men lay together listening to their breathing slow and feeling their heart beats return to normal. Before Harry was fully soft, Louis felt him reach down between them and hold the condom, making sure it stayed on as he pulled out of him. Louis always thought it a strange feeling when a full condom was being pulled out of his body, it almost tickled a little but he never said a word.

“Eww,” Harry said as he got off the bed and stood on his feet, taking hold of the condom and carefully pulling it off and tying it. “It’s a little sticky and smells so gross.”

Louis laughed at that. “Why’d you smell it, you weirdo,” he wondered out loud.

“Cuz it was sticky,” Harry laughed as he carried it to the kitchen. “Under the sink then?”

“Yeah,” Louis said, feeling tired now. He felt like he should have a shower before going to sleep but he couldn’t be bothered. He just hoped that Harry would come back and cuddle him to sleep. That was always one of the best things about sharing a bed with someone else.

Louis could hear the kitchen tap turn on and back off again, he assumed Harry had washed his hands before he could hear his light footsteps come back towards him and the bed dipped beside him. Harry laid down on his back next to Louis and put his arm out for Louis to come lay on his chest and cuddle as they fell asleep.

***

“Lou, Louis, look I’m sorry to wake you, Lou I really am but I need you to get up.” Louis jolted awake when he realized the voice calling him was female. He lifted his head up and toward his door to find Georgia standing there. She had a bit of a smirk on her face as they made eye contact. “Good night then, lover boy?”

“Wha… What are you talking about and why are you here?” Louis was so confused in his sleepy daze. “What time is it even?”

Georgia full on giggled at him as she silently pointed somewhere behind Louis. Louis turned his head and saw Harry still sound asleep beside him. He trailed his eyes downward and realized he was looking at his long naked body, bare ass hanging out for the world to see. It was then that he remembered everything from the night before and realized that he too was laying face down naked as the day he was born and that the blanket had somehow been pushed to the floor.

“Just grab the blanket for me please,” Louis could feel the blush crawl up his face quickly. “What time is it and why did you wake me up?” Louis asks as he pulled the blanket from her hand and off the floor, covering up both Harry and himself.

“It’s almost 11:00 Lou...” Georgia began but was cut off by Louis.

“Shit, shit, shit,” Louis whisper yelled as he reached out and grabbed his boxers from last night and quickly threw them on under the blankets. He quickly got out of bed and started quietly heading down the hall to find some clean clothes when he felt Georgia grab his arm and stop him.

“Hey, calm down Lou. I’ve got her, it’s okay,” Georgia said with a sweet smile on her face, trying her best to get Louis to slow down and listen to her.

“Oh thank God, Georgia, you saved my life once again. I’ll be down in a few minutes to grab her. I just need to get dressed and figure out how to sneak Harry out without her or my mum seeing him here. Mum will kill me and surely kick me out if she finds out about any of this. Please don’t say anything,” Louis was pleading with Georgia at this point.

“I said I’ve got you, Louis, it’ll be fine,” she started as she made Louis pause in the hallway and look at her while she gave him an update on the situation downstairs. “First of all, I may or may not have taken a picture to use as blackmail later before I woke you up but not to worry because I would never tell anyone else. Second, Alex came to drop Mia off a couple of hours ago but I stopped him from coming up. I told him that you just texted and said you’d be down in a minute, that you were busy with something but asked me to watch her. She is downstairs sitting with Mrs. Wheely watching Peppa on my laptop so she’s good. Alex said his mum told him she was restless last night and didn’t really eat much this morning. I gave her some juice and a muffin but she has barely touched it. I felt her head and I think she has a fever. Your mum agrees and told me to come up and ask you for some medicine for her.”

“Damn it, poor girl gets ditched by her Papa, her Dad, and is getting sick all in one morning. Why do I always make such shitty decisions?” Louis was feeling horrible for his little girl and felt like a terrible father at this news.

“Lou,” Georgia rubbed his arm gently trying to convince him he was no such thing. “Look, you’re not a shit anything for taking a night to yourself and having a little fun. I mean, based on the way you’re walking you had a great time,” she smirked, seemingly proud of herself for noticing and teasing him about it. “Just give me some meds and take a moment for the both of you to shower and dress, grab a quick bite and for the love of all things open a damn window to air this place out. If your mum comes up here she’ll have your head. It reeks of sweat and sex… mostly sex.”

Louis could feel himself calm a little at his friend’s willingness to help him out but could feel his cheeks heating up again at the fact that Georgia clearly knew he and Harry had sex the night before. “Yeah, sounds like a plan. Thank you so much Georgia. I’d be so screwed if it weren’t for you and Liam.” _Oh God, Liam!_ Louis’ heart dropped at how Liam would react when he found out he slept with Harry. “Fuck, I’m a horrible friend too. Liam will never talk to me again when he finds out.”

“So don’t tell him,” she suggested, “I mean don’t lie to him but if he doesn’t ask, don’t tell.”

“I guess I'll figure out a way to tell him at some point, I’m glad he is out of town for another little while to be honest. I’ll be down in a bit. While I keep Mia distracted, you can find a reason for mum to stay in the kitchen, then I’ll text Harry the okay. Once he walks out of the shop doors we are clear.”

“Good plan, Lou.” Georgia took the medicine for Mia and headed back towards the door. “See you soon and don’t rush. Enjoy a few quiet moments with that gorgeous man in there before he’s gone, yeah!”

“Yeah, I will, thanks so much,” Louis leaned in to give her a hug but she declined.

“Yeah, I don’t want your and Harry’s sex germs all over me so I’ll take a rain check.”

A few hours later and the plan had gone off without a hitch. Louis and Mia were curled up on the couch watching the newest Avengers movie together. Mia had clearly come down with some sort of bug so Louis made her some soup for lunch, which she only had half of but it was more then she’d eaten all day so he was willing to take what he could. She was lying with her little body curled up tightly on his bare chest and he continually ran his fingers through her light brown hair as she fell asleep. He was dozing off himself, thinking about his goodbye with Harry not that long ago. He tried not to think of it too much because he knew that they wouldn’t likely see each other again. As much as Harry promised to come find him after the tour was over, Louis knew that a year was a long time. There were so many things that could happen over a year and he couldn’t shake the feeling that Harry would forget about him and go about his life as it was before the two met. 

It didn’t take long for Louis to fall asleep as well, his sick daughter cuddled against his chest with visions of his night with Harry roaming around in his head.


	10. Chapter 10

About a month went by and Louis and Mia’s life was somewhat back to normal. Mia had been sick for a week or more. Louis was thankful that Liam came home a few days after Harry had left. As usual, he had given Louis a helping hand. He tried to miss as little work as possible because he was in dire need of the money in his account but was finding it difficult while she was sick because Alex refused to have anything to do with her.

Thankfully Mia was feeling better and Alex had actually showed up, hours late mind you, but showed up nonetheless to take Mia for his weekend. Louis was relieved when he eventually showed up and left with Mia. He very much needed a break. He had been more tired than usual given the fact that he had been juggling work, Mia being sick, catching up with Liam, and trying to make ends meet financially.

When he came back into the quiet shop he plopped down in a seat, closed his tired eyes, and sighed. He was so tired and constantly wanting a nap lately, not to mention he was sure that he was coming down with whatever Mia had.

“You okay, Lou?” Georgia’s voice was quiet and gentle.

“Yeah, just worn out I think.”

“You want me to stay late so you can go take a nap before you start?”

“That would be wonderful!” Louis usually tried to just push through and do what was required of him but for some reason today he just couldn’t do it. He knew that he needed a nap or he would never make it to closing time tonight.

“Go then, hun.” Georgia shooed Louis towards the stairs before going back to do some cleaning for Louis while things were quiet.

***

Just over an hour later Louis was woken by his phone ringing. “Hello” he answered sleepily.

“Sorry to wake you Louis, I really hate to do this but I need to go. I’ve got plans tonight and still need to get ready.”

“It’s no problem, you’re doing me a favour anyway. I’ll be down in five.” He rubbed his eyes as he got up off the couch and headed to the bathroom.

Louis found Georgia downstairs putting some dishes through the wash. He thanked her again and gave her a hug before she gathered her things to leave. Pulling away from the hug he rubbed at his nipples, they suddenly felt a little sore.

“You alright?” Georgia asked with concern in her voice.

“Yeah, just a little sensitive is all. They have been on and off all week actually.”

“Is that so...” She trailed off at the end.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing really. Just got me thinking that this past month you’ve been tired like all the time, your nipples are sore and I’m sorry to tell you but I can’t help but notice that you’re looking a little bloated.”

“It’s been a busy month. I haven’t been eating the greatest since Liam has been bringing over so much take out as of late. I also think I’ve finally caught what Mia had, threw up this morning.”

“You sure that’s what all this is Louis?” She looked skeptical.

Louis paused, staring at Georgia, trying to work out what she was trying to insinuate with all this chatter. Louis had noticed he may be a little bloated but like he said, Liam had been feeding them junk lately. He was expected to be tired with having a normal work schedule and a sick daughter too. As for throwing up, he just had what Mia did.

“Yeah,” Louis gave Georgia a puzzled look “what are you getting at?”

“Just think about it Lou, all your symptoms after what happened a month ago?” She tried hinting at something but Louis must be really daft because he seemed to be missing something.

Georgia quietly pulled out her phone and opened it, flipping through before handing it to Louis. When he took a look at what she had to show him he snorted.

“What the hell, Georgia, why the fuck do you have this photo?” Louis was staring at a photo that was taken the morning Harry left. He thought she was joking when she had told him she’d taken a picture before waking him up. There was Harry and himself, fast asleep on their stomachs, bare asses out for the world to see.

“It was cute and I told you I wanted it for future black mailing purposes.”

“What does this have to do with me being tired and sick?”

“I’m just going to leave you alone to think about that for awhile, Louis.” She took her phone back and put it in her pocket again, picked up her stuff and headed toward the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, I’m on the afternoon shift.”

Louis didn’t have much time to think about what Georgia was clearly trying to get him to realize about his situation since some customers had come in. It wasn’t until he was at home that night having a hot shower that he froze, his brain seeming to catch up with Georgia’s.

“FUCK” he yelled to no one but himself. They used a condom so they were safe, there is no way he could be pregnant… could he?

With that realization Louis got out of the shower and could feel anxiety rise as he thought of the possibility that he could be having another baby. So many thoughts ran through his head he didn’t know what to do. He put on a fresh pair of underwear and decided against pulling out the couch that night to sleep on. He turned on the TV to try and drown out his thoughts and force himself to fall asleep. It didn’t take much since he was already exhausted, he fell asleep that night with thoughts of Harry whirling around in his head.

***

The next day Louis found himself going about the day haphazardly and totally distracted. By the time his mum left to go home, she had managed to yell at Louis at least a dozen times. He couldn’t get his brain and body to work together, he was still so tired and wanted a nap, his nipples were just as sore and he had convinced himself he’d gained ten pounds in the last couple of weeks. The shop had a busier than usual start to the day which meant things behind the counter were very unorganized and he hadn’t had time to clear the tables after the lunch rush.

When Georgia came in for her shift, she found him in the back curled into a ball on the floor with his hand hanging between his knees. Louis looked up as he heard footsteps rushing across the floor and managed to catch her eye as she knelt down beside him. He could feel her hand touch his back and gently rub up and down, he leaned back into her touch and could immediately feel his anxiety start to dwindle.

“You alright, Louis?” He could tell she was worried by the tone in her voice and the look on her face.

Without saying a word, he swiftly got to his feet and quickly ran towards the staff bathroom. He slammed the door behind him in hopes that Georgia wouldn’t be able to hear him throwing up. He had done his best to keep his stomach as calm as he could for the morning while he worked beside his mum through the morning customers. He couldn’t hold back anymore and emptied his stomach into the toilet.

When he was finished he wiped his mouth and flushed, washing his hands and splashing his face with cold water. Looking at himself in the mirror while he leaned on the sink, he couldn’t get his thoughts straight and he now knew that Georgia was right. Now that he was tuned into his body, these were all similar symptoms he had shown during his first trimester with Mia.

Once he finally admitted to himself that he knew he was in fact pregnant, pregnant with Harry Styles’ baby no less. He felt his legs get shaky and they gave in, he didn’t even realize he was sinking to the floor until he felt the cold wall against his back and the tears started flooding his eyes. He sat for what felt like ages just sitting there sobbing before he heard a gentle knock on the door. He didn’t move or say a word so the door opened and Georgia came in; she took one look at Louis and crouched down with him again and wrapped her arms around him.

“So you think you are then?” was all she said.

Louis took a minute and managed to stop sobbing and collect himself enough to speak. “Yeah, I’m… “ he stumbled through the words “pregnant.” He braved a look up at Georgia to see her reaction.

“I know, hun,” she said calmly, squeezing his shoulders as she helped him get to his feet again. “Listen, why don’t you take a moment or two and collect yourself and then come help me put this place back in order, yeah?”

“You don’t need to help me do my job, Georgia. I mean I appreciate it but I can do it fine. You don’t even start your shift for another hour and the rush is gone so I’ve got time.”

“I know I don’t have to but that’s what friends are for, so I’m going to.” With that she left him in the bathroom and put her stuff away, Louis watched her turn back and give him a sympathetic smile as she went to the front of the store to get started.

For the next hour Louis and Georgia helped each other get the shop back in order and put things back to how they should be before a large crowd came in for tea. Louis stayed a few hours after to give back and make sure he helped Georgia as well. When the customers were all happily eating pastries and sipping their tea Georgia called him to the back.

“Go on Lou, go get yourself a hot shower and a nap.” She smiled at him and handed him his things.

“Thanks again for everything you keep helping me with. I know I screw things up all the time but I appreciate you being here to keep digging us back out.” He returned her smile.

Just as he went to leave, he turned back to her “And Georgia, please don’t say anything about this to anyone. I’ve got a bunch of things to sort out before anyone knows. You know figure out what I’m going to do, especially when it comes to my mum and man, Liam’s gonna kill me.”

“No worries Lou, your secret is safe with me.”

***

Louis woke up to Mia jumping and screaming all around. “DADDY DADDY DADDY”

He rubbed his eyes, smiling at his enthusiastic daughter. “Good Morning, princess.”

“Up Daddy, pancakes.”

“You want to make pancakes with Daddy for breakfast today?”

“YES”

Louis threw the blanket off of his body and stood up and walked toward the kitchen. “So, my princess wants special birthday pancakes, then special birthday pancakes she shall get.”

“Chocolate, Daddy?” Mia looked hopeful at him.

He couldn’t believe that his little girl was turning three today. Man time has flown since she was born. It felt like yesterday Alex was driving them home from the hospital. At the thought of Alex, Louis wondered if he would hear from him today. It would mean so much to Mia to hear from her Papa but Louis wasn’t going to hold his breath. As time went on his visits and time with Mia were even more sporadic than they were at the beginning. Thankfully today wasn’t about that! Louis didn’t have enough money to give his daughter a big party or lots of presents like he wanted to but he had found his own way to make sure she felt extra special on her birthday.

“We don’t have chocolate chips, princess, we’ll have to go downstairs and ask Nanny if we can use some of hers.” Before Louis could say another word Mia was at the door fiddling with the knob trying to open it and run down the stairs.

Louis grabbed his shirt from yesterday and quickly threw it on as he ran after his daughter to the kitchen downstairs to find his mum. It didn’t take him long to locate her from all the shrieking. Louis could tell that his mum was busy doing something when Mia ran over and jumped on her by the way she shrieked and then giggled.

“Nanny, me need chocolate.”

“You need chocolate do you?” Louis could hear Cathy ask as he stood in the doorway watching the interaction between his daughter and mum.

“Daddy makin’ special pancakes.”

“Daddy is making special pancakes this morning?” Cathy asked her granddaughter as she lifted her up on her hips and carried over to where he was still watching their exchange. Cathy gave him a wink and handed his daughter over. “Why Mia? Is there something special about today?” she joked.

“Course, Nanny. Mia this many today.” Mia proudly held up three fingers. Louis had been helping her remember how many fingers three were all week.

“Oh that’s right, pretty girl!” Cathy went on. “Today is my special princess’ birthday! Happy Birthday, my love.” Cathy leaned over, giving Mia three kisses on each of her cheeks before she grabbed a clean bowl off the counter and threw a few handfuls of chocolate chips in them before handing Mia the bowl.

“Thank you, Nanny.” Mia giggled happily eating a few of them out of the bowl while she waited for her Daddy to carry her back up stairs.

“You’re very welcome, princess. Don’t forget that you and Daddy are coming over to Nanny’s house tonight, I’ve made you a special cake and I’m pretty sure your Aunties and Uncle Ernie have some presents for you.”

Mia clapped her hands as Louis grabbed the bowl from her, preventing it from dropping it on the floor. “Thanks, mum,” he said as they got ready to go back upstairs and start their day. “We’ll see you later, love you.”

After eating pancakes together and playing dolls for a little while and watching an episode or two of Peppa on his phone using the wifi he picked up from the shop, Louis packed a bag for Mia and the two headed downstairs. 

They had plans to meet Liam at the park. Liam told Louis he was treating the two of them to a nice lunch for his favourite little lady’s birthday. As usual Liam spoiled Mia and bought her a new stroller for her doll, a princess dress that she insisted on wearing for the rest of the day, and a box of her favourite sugary cereal.

After lunch and presents Liam drove them back to his place where Louis put Mia down for a nap before they headed over to his family’s to finish celebrating. While she was sleeping Louis was looking forward to having tea and getting to catch up with his best friend. With Liam being away , Louis’ life being a little chaotic, and Louis just generally avoiding Liam so he didn’t have to tell him about his pregnancy, they hadn’t had much time together in forever really.

As Louis made himself comfortable on Liam’s couch, Liam handed him tea and sat on the couch across from him.

“It’s been forever since we’ve chatted, Lou. What the heck have you been up to?”

“Just life stuff really, Li, nothing much to talk about.” Louis avoided looking at his friend, he didn’t think he really lied, not exactly anyway.

“Don’t take this the wrong way Lou but I think you’ve let yourself go a little. I mean, what have you gained like ten pounds? Shit, if I didn’t know any better I would have thought you were pregnant again or something. What has been going on with you?” Liam laughed casually.

Louis tried to fake a laugh but it was quite obvious to his friend. Liam stopped and looked at Louis like he’d missed something.

“Uh, Lou.” Liam started. “You’re not actually pregnant are you? I was just kidding mate, no hard feelings you know.” Louis stayed silent and took another sip of his tea. “Louis William Tomlinson, look at me please.”

Louis set his tea on the table between them and lifted his head to look at Liam with a shameful look on his face. Louis could feel himself start to sweat and wasn’t sure if the queasiness that was now developing in his stomach was nerves or the baby.

“You didn’t sleep with Alex again did you?” Liam questioned.

“God no, Liam. Who the fuck do you think I am? Alex was a mistake and I left, I haven’t slept with him since we broke up.”

“Well you never told me about having sex with someone else so there is no way you’re pregnant. What the fuck is going on?” Liam looked worried now and Louis just wanted him to feel better but wasn’t really sure that the truth would do that.

“Like you said, we haven’t spoken in awhile and I may have been putting off telling you some things.”

“What haven’t you told me, Lou, you’ve got me worried.” Liam set his tea on the table with Louis’ and moved closer, looking him directly in the eyes and grabbing hold of his hands.

“Before I tell you, I really hope you don’t hate me. I know I fucked up again and I really don’t know what I’m going to do now. You’re never going to talk to me again, Liam, so I wanted to put this off forever if I could. I didn’t want you to find out but that was silly I suppose because you were going to find out sooner or later anyways so...” He started mumbling nonsense. Louis could feel hot tears start to run down his face, he used his sleeve to wipe the tears off his face.

“LOUIS!” Liam said loudly, forgetting briefly that Mia was asleep down the hall, he put his hands on Louis’ shoulders and squeezed gently. “Mate, it’ll be okay. I’d never hate you I promise. Just tell me what the hell is going on. Whatever it is we will still be best mates, that much I do know.”

Louis took a deep breath and looked at Liam “I’m pregnant!” Now that his secret was out to his friend he started crying all over again. He used his hands to cover his face, the tears were streaming down endlessly, and the embarrassment that he felt at actually having to admit what had happened was like no other.

Louis didn’t hear Liam say anything, he just felt his strong arms reach around him and squeeze him tightly in a hug. Louis felt warm and safe in Liam’s arms but he couldn’t let himself relax until he told him the whole truth. Louis allowed Liam to hold him until Liam decided to pull back and ask, “If it’s not Alex’ then whose is it Louis? Who is the asshole that fucking knocked you up and left you to deal with the consequences?”

Louis buried his head in his friend’s chest and hid the side of his face with his hands before blurting out “Harry”.

Silence.


	11. Chapter 11

They sat in silence for what felt like hours but in reality was probably only a few minutes. Neither one of them said a word, Louis sat curled into Liam’s chest with his face buried and sobbed, he cried more then than ever before. It was like a release, a weight off his shoulders now that Liam knew. Louis felt like now that he had let his emotions out about holding a gigantic secret from his best friend that his worries and fears about his whole situation were coming out at the same time.

Since he found out, three months ago, he had done his best to hide everything from everyone and go about his life as normal. This included himself, a part of him thought that if he could put it in the back of his mind and pretend like it wasn’t happening it would all just go away. Unlike his first pregnancy, he knew things were not all unicorns and rainbows, he knew how hard it was going to be, he knew supporting a second child was next to impossible, he knew that he couldn’t do this alone but that he would have no other choice. Louis was also worried about telling the two people he hadn’t yet told and the two people that could make his whole life a whole lot worse when they found out. He just knew things wouldn’t end well when his mum and Alex found out about the baby.

While he cried, Louis couldn’t hear Liam say a single thing. Not a single word was uttered between the two men and Louis was nervous to pull his head out of his friend’s chest and face him and his reaction to the shocking news. All Louis knew was that he could feel Liam’s heart beat and it was definitely not beating at a normal pace.

Before Louis could think about what he was going to say next he felt strong hands start to rub up and down his back, Liam whispering in his ear.

“Shhh, it’s okay, Lou.” His voice was gentle and quiet, not what Louis had expected at all. “We’ll get through this, yeah.”

Surprised by his reaction, Louis pushed himself away from Liam and dried his face with his shirt. He looked at Liam’s face, confused, and took a deep breath.

“Why don’t you hate me?” was all he could think of to say.

Liam chuckled a little at his words. “I’ll never hate you Lou, I told you that. I mean I wish you would have told me about all this when you found out, maybe told me when I got back that you slept with Harry freaking Styles of all people.”

“That’s what I mean Liam. Why don’t you hate me for sleeping with Harry? I know how much you adore him, how much you love him and that makes me such a shit friend for sleeping with him, doesn’t it?” he pondered.

“Yeah, I mean I love his music and he is sexy as hell but that doesn’t mean I want to date him. I’m okay if you do, I just wish you’d have told me that you were into him like that. I want the details though mate. How was he in bed? Is his dick as big as they say?” Liam wiggled his eyebrows up and down at Louis while he spewed questions.”

Louis just laughed. “Another time, Liam.”

“I may have some things to come clean to you about as well. I may not be pregnant or having sex with anyone but I haven’t told you something,” Liam confessed.

“Well, there is no possible way it could be any worse then what I just threw at you so hit me with the truth, Payno.” Louis finally shot his friend a tiny smile.

“The day after the concert, I went out with Zayn. Like on a date and we’ve seen each other a few times since then. I mean our schedules have been crazy but we have gone out on a few dates. I really like him, Louis.” Louis watched as a big smile crept across Liam’s face.

“So that’s the real reason you don’t care about me and Harry then? You’ve got your tall dark and handsome! I’m happy for you, Liam, it’s about time you have someone to share your time with.”

“Yeah, it just sucks that we won’t see each other for a while. I hope at least. He said he’d come back and we could see each other again but who knows if it will happen.”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought about Harry too. He is such a kind man, Li, spent so much of his free time with Mia and me. I doubt I’ll ever see him again though if we’re honest.”

Louis could see his friend’s face go stern and look at him with concern. “What are you talking about, Louis. You’re having his bloody baby, of course you’ll see him again. I mean when the story gets out it’ll be a bloody nightmare with the media but he doesn’t hit me as a guy that would leave you to raise his child.”

“I don’t even have a way to contact him to tell him if I wanted to, Liam. I’m not going to fool myself into thinking my situation is going to end as something great and wonderful when I know it’ll turn out just as shitty as it did the first time. Please don’t get me wrong, Mia is my world and I wouldn’t give her up for anything. You know how much I love her, Li, this baby too.” Louis responded through more tears as he rubbed his belly gently. “I have to face the facts that I am going to spend the rest of my life as a struggling single father of two. No one is going to want to love me when I have two kids with two different men. Christ, Li, I don’t have a proper place to live or a job that will even support myself nevermind two kids.”

“Whoa, slow down Louis. You don’t know if any of that is true. First things first, why wouldn’t you want to tell Harry? I am sure we could figure out a way to get in touch with his people or something. You do remember I am a freelance writer don’t you, I have my ways.”

“It’ll ruin him if I do, Li. I don’t want to talk about it but I could ruin everything for him. This is my problem to bear and I’ll have to figure something out. I have roughly six months to figure things out. I’m not going to tell mum and Alex for as long as I can hide my bump. At least not until I have a plan for what to do without them.”

“Louis, you know I’ll be with you every step of the way, right? I’ll always be here for you and help you with anything you and Mia and this baby need.” Liam leans forward to give Louis another hug and put his hand on Louis’ stomach and smiles. “You’ll figure it out, Lou, I’ll help you.”

“I do, Liam, I know you are always willing to help but you have to remember that you have your own life to live too. I’m the one that put myself in this position and I don’t want you to ever feel like it is your responsibility to help get me out of any of it.”

“I just love you and Mia so much and don’t want to see bad things happen to you. I promise though that I will take care of myself.”

Before the conversation could go any further, the two men could hear tiny footsteps coming down the hall towards them. Louis couldn’t deny that he was glad Mia was awake so they could get going to his mum’s and leave this conversation alone, for the time being at least.

“Come here, princess.” Louis called to Mia, holding his arms open wide, ready for her to come barreling into them. “You ready to head to Nanny’s for some more birthday celebrations?”

“Let go, Daddy.” Her sleepy little voice answered back.

As Louis carried Mia out of Liam’s door he felt an arm on his shoulder. He turned around to where Liam was standing behind him.

“Lou, please remember that just because you are carrying it doesn’t mean it is strictly your responsibility. He needs to know and he needs to help you, he will help you.”

With that said, Louis chose not to answer. He turned out the door and started the walk to finish celebrating his daughter’s birthday.

***

It took Louis and Mia a little longer to walk from Liam’s to his mum’s house because Mia insisted on pushing her new doll stroller. Once her legs grew tired, Louis strapped her in her stroller and she held tight onto her own little one.

When they walked through the door, they were greeted with birthday hugs, birthday kisses, and birthday wishes. As soon as his daughter ran off to play until supper was ready, Cathy leaned in for a hug from Louis. “Good to see you both, Louis.” She pulled away and looked strangely at him for a brief moment.

Louis looked down at himself, wondering if he’d spilled something but didn’t see anything. He pulled his shirt down but not so far that it stretched tightly over his slight bump. He knew he was beginning to show and soon enough everyone would find out. He just hoped that for now he could make it through the night without his mum finding out about the pregnancy, at least he hoped.

“Always good to spend time with all of you, mum. Mia and I love coming over, you know that.” He smiled at his mum and followed her into the kitchen. He went to the sink to fill the kettle and turned it on to make them tea. “What can I help you with, mum?”

“Nothing, sweetheart, I’ve got everything under control.” Cathy was stirring something in a pot on the stove. “Take a sneak peak at the cake the girls made Mia today if you’d like.”

He didn’t notice his mum following his movements with her eyes. He lifted the cover off the cake. “Wow, that is a ton of sprinkles! She will love it.” He replaced the cover carefully and went back to the boiling kettle and poured two cups of tea. Once he placed his tea on the counter behind him he leaned back on the counter and without thinking, placed his hands lovingly on his tiny, barely there bump.

When Cathy determined supper was ready she reached a hand out towards Louis. “Can you pass me the…,” Louis saw her pause momentarily when she turned her head, looking at his hands. “Uh, the dishes. Pass me the dishes and I’ll serve up the plates.”

 _Shit_ , Louis thought to himself. He realized then what he had done and hoped that his mum hadn’t thought anything of it. He turned to the cupboard and counted out enough plates for everyone before handing them to his mum.

***

After a noisy supper that ended with a birthday cake and a few more presents, Mia was happily sharing her new toys with Louis’ siblings. Louis was sat back at the table, across from his mum drinking tea.

“So Lou, tell me about what’s been going on with you. I haven’t seen much of you as of late,” Cathy questioned.

“Not too much,” Louis started as he stared down into his tea, watching the milk swirl around inside his cup. He knew if he looked at his mum while answering there was a good chance he would just blurt it all out. “The shop has been getting busier lately so I’ve been staying a bit longer or starting a bit earlier to help Georgia.”

“I haven’t seen you much out of work. What have you been doing with your off time?” 

Louis was beginning to wonder if his mum was trying to pull information out of him. He was not, under any circumstances, going to be telling her about the baby. He just wasn’t ready to deal with the wrath he knew was coming. Before he dealt with that he was hoping to have a plan in place for Mia and himself.

“Mia and I have been spending quite a bit of time together. We’ve been catching up with Liam too. He was away for awhile and then had a bunch of articles and stories and stuff to write when he got back. Seems like we’ve been on different schedules really.”

“Just you and Liam huh. He seeing anyone at the moment?”

“Yeah, nah.” Louis scrunched up his face as he finally looked at his mum, not really sure how to answer that one. “Well he was but they are away working for a while. I’m not really sure of their official status or anything but he seems happy.” He finished with a smile, thinking of how glad he was his friend had been dating.

Louis and Cathy finished their tea and talked about his siblings and all the things his mum was up to. Neither could believe it had already been 3 years since Mia had come into their life. Cathy never missed the opportunity to remind Louis how much he struggled when she was a baby and how much more was ahead of him yet.

Lottie has asked to borrow Cathy’s car and offered to drive Louis, Mia, and all her presents home. He was thankful he wouldn’t have to struggle trying to carry all of their things home and push Mia at the same time. 

When they got home that night, he made good on his previous birthday promise to his daughter. He pulled out the bed from the couch and made it up and let Mia curl up next to him as they watched a movie together. 

As the movie ended, Louis shut off the TV and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. She was sound asleep so he whispered, “Goodnight, my beautiful girl, Daddy loves you more than anything. I can already tell you will be a great big sister.” 

With a stray tear falling down his check, he rolled on his side and put his arm around Mia’s little body and allowed himself to sleep as well.


	12. Chapter 12

Louis was woken up the next morning by a pair of hands smacking rhythmically on his bare stomach. He stretched his arms over his head, causing his shirt to ride further up his torso and rubbed his eyes sleepily. Just as he was opening them and about to reach out for Mia, he felt her jump directly down on top of him.

“Ooo,” He yelped and grabbed ahold of his stomach protectively. “Mia princess, you need to be careful of Daddy’s tummy.”

Mia began to whimper slightly. “I sorry, Daddy. I want Daddy to wake up.” She climbed off Louis and rubbed his stomach gently, trying to make him feel better. “Daddy?”

“Yes princess?” Louis yawned.

“Why Daddy getting fat?” she asked with her head tilted to the side and she continued to rub his tiny bump.

Still sleepy and feeling bad for making Mia upset a few moments ago, Louis blurted out more information than he should have at this particular moment. “Daddy is carrying a very special package in his tummy.”

“A present, Daddy’s tummy for me?” The little girl looked at him, clearly confused.

“I guess you could say that. Daddy has a baby in his tummy, you’re going to be a big sister.”

“Daddy giving me a baby?” she asked, seeming to need a little clarification.

“Yeah, there is a baby in there and it will be your brother or sister when it’s born in a few months. It’s a surprise though so we can only talk to Uncle Liam about it, okay?”

“Okay!” That was all she seemed to need as she jumped off the bed and Louis heard her run toward the bathroom.

***

A few weeks had gone by, Louis and Mia hadn’t left their apartment unless they needed to. Louis had managed to pick up a few hours of work during Mia’s nap times so he had a few more dollars to put away. He had taken Mia with him while he visited a couple day care centres around the city but none were looking for help at the moment. It was the perfect job really. He could bring Mia with him to work and was hoping to work off what he would owe as payment while still making enough for them to live off.

His bump had grown but Louis thought it still wasn’t an obvious baby bump, even though Liam thought otherwise. He found himself at the end of a shift, Georgia would be around any minute to take over. Alex wasn’t due to drop off Mia until the next day and his mum had invited him over for tea that afternoon.

When he arrived at his mum’s, things were unusually quiet. “Where are all the kids?” he wondered.

“Lottie and Fizzy took them all out for the day. Said they’d be back before bedtime.” Cathy smiled as she poured tea for the two of them. She set down a couple of plates that were full of sandwiches and some veggies with dip.

“That was nice of them. It’s nice to spend some time just us, like it used to be,” Louis remembered fondly, smiling back at his mum.

“So, how have things been going for you and Mia?”

“Alright I guess. Nothing new to report. I’ve been trying to find a job at a daycare. I figure that way I can work regular hours, take her with me, and make some money.”

“That would be good for you, Lou, both of you. Is there anything else you want to tell me?” Cathy just looked straight into Louis’ eyes as she took a bite of her sandwich.

“Ummm… No?” Louis asked rather than told his mum.

“Do you think I’m stupid Louis? Do you think I haven’t figured things out? You’ve been running out at work to throw up, you’ve gained weight, and you’ve been trying to hide it all from me. You know I have been pregnant five times and was with you during your pregnancy with Mia.” Louis watched as his mum sat back in her chair, crossed her arms across her chest, and stared straight at him.

Louis tried to swallow the lump in his throat and wiped his hands sweaty hands on his pants. He could feel himself heating up and the only thing he could do was just sit there and play around with the food on his plate. He had no idea what to say so he just sat there and waited for his mum to say something more.

“LOUIS WILLIAM TOMLINSON!” she raised her voice. “Are you or are you not pregnant?”

“Umm…” He hesitated only briefly, not wanting to upset his mum any further. “Yes. I am almost five months. Georgia only knows because she’s the one who told me to take a test and the only other person who knows is Liam, for obvious reasons.” Louis was trying to come up with anything to keep things calm with his mum. “I’ve been trying to get another job..”

Cathy cut Louis off, “Stop, stop right there, Louis. Where’s the other father, it better not be Alex again. That man is a shit father to Mia and you know it. He doesn’t respect you and you can do so much better, you deserve so much better. I love you so much Louis but what's going on with you?”

Louis tried to hold back the tears but a couple slipped out anyway. “It’s not Alex’ and it will never be his. You remember Harry, the singer that was hanging around?”

“Well I am relieved Alex has nothing to do with this. Where is Harry now and what does he have to say about all of this?”

“He has gone back on tour. He doesn’t know and I’m not going to tell him. I am also not going to have any further conversation with you about it.”

“Hmmmm, so what’s your plan then Lou? How are you going to raise two babies on your own? How are you going to feed them? I sign your paychecks so I know you can barely afford yourself and Mia right now nevermind another baby. What about all the things babies need? You don’t have much of Mia’s stuff left and that apartment isn’t big enough for the three of you.”

“I don’t know yet, I haven’t figured out all the details yet. I’m trying to find another job so that I don’t have to rely on Alex and so I can afford all those things. I’m trying to save first and last so that I can move my kids into a real place.”

“Right, of course you don’t have a plan. Liam can’t save you all the time, Louis, he has a life and job too. Your mistakes aren’t his and you have to start taking some responsibility for your actions. If you’re going to think with your penis the least you could do is use protection. I know I taught you about having safe sex and preventing pregnancy. Have you been tested for diseases?”

“Mum. For fuck sakes. First of all, Liam has nothing to do with any of this so leave him out of it. Second, I am taking responsibility for my actions. I left Alex so that Mia wouldn’t have to put up with his shit. You weren’t the one that was in that relationship and you have no idea the fucked up shit we went through. I protected my daughter and left. The only reason she’s with him now is because you told me it was in our best interest.” Louis knew he was starting to raise his voice at his mum, he also knew that it wasn’t going to end well but he had to stand up for himself. “I get tested regularly, without you having to tell me all the time because I am an adult and can take care of myself. Finally, if you must know, Harry did wear a condom.” Louis stood up and looked at his mum once again. “I’ve had it with your judgy lectures, mum. I know I’ve fucked up okay, I’m the one that is pregnant right now. I am fully aware that in a few months I’m going to be a single father of two without a steady job and no one to look after my kids so I can get one. I’m the one living my life so I know all about it. I just wanted one night, one night to be myself, one night where I didn’t have to worry about being a dad, one night without Alex harassing me or messing up my plans, one night, mum.” Having said everything he felt he needed to, Louis walked to the door. He wanted to leave before he started crying and feeling even more sorry for himself.

“Fine, you want to show the world you’re an adult and that you don’t need help. You go ahead and prove it then Louis, starting on the first of the month I expect rent in my hand. If you don’t pay rent you get out, I’m finished raising you then.”

***

Louis was still upset with how the conversation with his mum had gone the night before. He hates fighting with her but he didn’t need to be reminded what a mess he had created for himself. Now that he has to pay his mum for living in the apartment he would need to up his game with the job hunt.

He was thankful his mum was off because he couldn’t think about having to face her right now. He had just finished his shift for the day and had a couple days off. Mia wasn’t due home for another couple of hours which he thought was perfect.

He took his time in the shower, needing to release some stress. He looked down at his ever growing bump and rub his hands over it as he watched the water cascade down his chest and over his belly before hitting the bottom of the tub. He couldn’t help but think what it might be like if Harry hadn’t gone on tour, if he could actually tell Harry about their baby, and if Harry were around to help him take care of the baby.

With images of Harry softly caressing his stomach running through his head, Louis started to feel himself getting turned on. He couldn’t stop thinking about how soft and warm Harry’s skin had felt on his that night. He imagined the heat surrounding him from behind as Harry stepped behind him closely. He could almost feel Harry reaching his arms around his sides and gently placing them on his bump, moving them slowly around in circles.

He thought about how Harry might rest his chin on his shoulder and whisper words of thanks and love for the growing baby. He imagined Harry would know how much this was turning him on and would slide one hand further down his body until it reached his hardening cock, wrapping his hands around the base.

Louis needed to release so bad, between working and having a 3 year old he never had much alone time. He knew that he was going to take advantage of it while he could and if images of Harry is what was going to help him then so be it.

He reached down and grabbed ahold of his hard, wet cock. Giving himself a much needed stroke as he let out a quiet moan. It felt so good and had been so long since the last time he had an orgasm he knew it would be quick.

He thought about Harry keeping one hand on his cock as he moved around to the front and got on his knees. Louis thought about what Harry’s mouth would feel like wrapped around his cock. He wondered if Harry would take a moment and kiss his belly before putting his mouth back on his cock, sucking with purpose.

With all these images going through Louis’ mind, mixed with the last time he got off likely being making this baby, it didn’t take very long before Louis came. When he opened his eyes he watched as the last of his come washed down the drain.

Louis finished washing himself and turned off the water. He grabbed his towel, wrapped it around himself and walked through the apartment and into Mia’s room to grab some clean clothes. Seeing as he had no plans to go anywhere for the rest of the day but knowing he had to go outside to get Mia shortly, he grabbed an old pair of joggers that still fit loose and threw on an old t-shirt that now fit tighter than Louis would like to admit.

Louis had just enough time to start some supper before he heard his phone go off, indicating he had a new text message.

_We’re outside, come get Mia._

Louis quickly put on his shoes and made his way out front to where he saw Alex getting out of his car.

“Hey, you guys have a good time?” Louis asked Alex, trying to be polite.

“I guess,” was the only answer he got in reply.

Louis waited as Alex walked around his car and opened the door, unbuckling Mia. “What did you two do?”

“Do you really have to know everything, Louis? It’s none of your business what happened while she was with me.” Alex snapped back as Louis knelt down, ready for his daughter.

As soon as Mia’s feet hit the pavement she came running over to Louis. “Missed you, Daddy, love you,” she said as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed his cheek.

“I missed you too, princess, so much. Did you have fun with Papa?”

Mia shrugged her shoulders, “mhmm.”

“Well that is good to hear. How about we get your things and you can help me finish cooking supper?”

“Okay, Daddy,” was all that Mia said before she walked over to Alex and gave him a hug. “Thank you, Papa, love you.”

That was when Louis stood up straight, Alex turned toward him and looked at him for the first time since arriving. Louis watched Alex’s eyes look over his body and he could feel nervousness start to rise in his body.

“When the hell did you get so fat, Louis?” Alex’s nose wrinkled up and his eyebrows lowered in clear disgust.

Louis’ hands automatically went to his stomach protectively. Before he could say anything in return, both men turned their heads as Mia’s voice spoke up.

“Daddy not fat, Papa. He gots a baby for me in his tummy.” She had the biggest grin on her face as she proudly told her Papa the news.

Louis froze for a second, worried about Alex’s reaction was going to be from the news. His immediate reaction was to get Mia out of the situation. He bent down to look at Mia, “Why don’t you run inside and ask Georgia to get you a treat? Let her know that Daddy is talking to Papa and will be in in a minute alright.”

“Okay, Daddy!” Mia said excitedly.

Louis placed a kiss on the top of her head and stood up, watching her do her best skipping inside and up to the counter with Georgia. Then he turned back to where Alex was throwing Mia’s bag out of the car and onto the sidewalk. Louis wasn’t really sure what to say but knew he needed to do something because Alex slammed the car door shut and opened the backseat again.

“Alex…” Louis hesitated for a moment. “Everything alright?”

“Is it true?” Alex had stopped what he was doing and looked at Louis, waiting for his reply.

“That I am pregnant, yeah. Um yeah it is, about 5 months along.” Louis nervously brushed his toes along the sidewalk, making a visible line in the dirt.

The next thing Louis knew was Alex reaching his hand forward and lifting his shirt up to his nipples and pushing the top of his pants down so they sat just under his bump. “Well how about that, you really are something, aren’t you.”

Louis took two steps backwards, away from Alex and brushed his hands away from him before pulling his pants back up and straightening his shirt back down. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“It means that you won’t have sex with me but you go and let another man knock you up. Where is he now, huh? How come I’ve never seen him? Has he met Mia, does he know Mia?” By this time Louis could see Alex’s face growing red with anger. Alex turned back toward his car and forcefully pulled Mia’s carseat, his carseat, from his car and tossed it to the ground.

“What does that even matter to you.” Louis stated rather than asked. “I’ve told you before that you can’t tell me what to do or have a say in who I sleep with anymore. It’s none of your business who the father is and since when do you give a shit about Mia? Just because you’re pissed you can’t control me anymore doesn’t mean you get to claim you give two fucks about our daughter.” Louis could feel himself getting worked up. Maybe it was the hormones or maybe it was the Papa Bear coming out but he knew that now was the time he needed to stand his ground with Alex. He had Alex’s attention and knew that Mia was safely inside the shop with Georgia, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever get another chance. “In her three years of life you only show up when it suits you. You never even called or bothered to see her on her birthday. The days that you don’t show up, who the hell do you think gets to tell her, huh? I do. I am also the one that has been there for her and taken care of her since the day she was conceived. You never wanted her and you still don’t so don’t go pretending now that you give two shits about her feelings toward the other father of her sister or brother.”

When Louis paused to take a breath and find out if Alex had anything to say about any of this, he hadn’t realized that Alex had taken all of Mia’s things from the car which were now haphazardly tossed around him on the sidewalk. Louis’ anger and frustration turned to confusion as he watched Alex walk around the car without a word and glare back at him. With a simple statement, “Fine, good luck being a single father of two.” Alex got in his car and drove off.

Louis stood there watching until he could no longer see Alex’s car and then looked around at the few things laying around him. The frustration quickly returned, knowing what a pain it would be to lug all this stuff upstairs only to have to lug it all back down in a week or so when Alex had time to cool off and would come back to get Mia again.

He felt emotionally drained as he finally got everything upstairs and settled into cooking supper with Mia. Teaching Mia what little he did know about the kitchen was always a good time for Louis. After such a rollercoaster of emotions, mixed with the relief there was no longer any reason for him to hide the pregnancy from anyone and the hormones that were surging through his body, movie night with his little girl was all that Louis wanted.


	13. Chapter 13

Nearly two weeks had gone by and Louis still hadn’t heard from Alex. Louis had just put Mia down for a nap when there was a knock on his door.

“Get your arse down here and deal with this maniac outside my shop,” was all Cathy had said before turning around and heading back downstairs.

Louis gently closed the door behind himself as he followed his mum, confused as ever. “Mum,.” he called a few times but she kept walking away from him and promptly went back to work. “Mum, what are you talking about? What’s going on?”

By the time Louis was stepping outside the shop’s front door, he quickly found out why his mum was so upset and what all the commotion was about. There was Alex, with his car wide open, throwing things out on the sidewalk. Louis looked around and took the situation in. He could see toys mixed in with clothes and diapers that had come out of their packaging. He could feel his face grow hot with embarrassment as a few people walking by had stopped to watch.

Embarrassment grew to confusion when Alex finally seemed to notice Louis standing and watching him. “You just going to stand there? This shit isn’t going to move itself you know. Maybe you should call your boy toy over to help pick up his new daughter’s shit.”

“What are going on about and what are you even doing? Why are Mia’s things all over the place?” Louis wasn't quite sure what he was going on about. _Harry was not a boy toy, he hasn’t even seen him in months. What new daughter? Alex surely wasn’t going to give up on Mia just because Louis was pregnant with someone else’s baby… was he?_

“I told you, Louis, you want to go around and fuck other guys and get pregnant by some man whore, so be it. I am no longer taking responsibility for your daughter, she’s your problem now and I’m just giving _your_ sorry ass her stuff back. I won’t be needing any of this since I won’t be seeing Mia anymore. I don’t give two shits what you tell her either. Tell her I’m dead. I’m done with all of this.” Louis didn’t recognize the look on Alex's face as he continued to throw the last of Mia’s things on the ground.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on a second.” Louis walked over closer to Alex and lowered his voice so the whole neighbourhood wasn’t hearing, not that they couldn’t see what was happening. “First of all, me being pregnant is none of your concern. Secondly, what do you mean you’re not taking responsibility for your daughter and not seeing her anymore?” Anger was clearly starting to rise in Louis. He was trying to contain all of his emotions and think with a level head but it was getting difficult. 

“I told you already, Louis, she is no longer my concern and I am no longer her father. I am done with this whole situation and I’m leaving. It’s not my problem, you wanted her in the first place so you deal with her.” Alex slammed the doors on his car shut and walked back over to the driver’s door. “Have a nice life, Lou, you and your new little family you have going for yourself.”

“She _is_ your daughter, Alex, and you can’t change that. We had her together and you need to take responsibility in raising her just as much as I do.” Louis was doing his very best to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall down his cheeks. 

Alex never responded. Louis wasn’t even sure if he had heard him or not. He just drove off, leaving Louis with a whole mix of emotions he didn’t have time to unpack. He looked around at the piles of his daughter’s things that were tossed to the ground and sat down in the middle of it all. He started crying, not knowing what he was supposed to do now.

Cathy had looked out the window and saw her son crying amongst a pile of his daughter’s belongings. She called Liam to come help him. She would have helped him herself if she had not been the only one working today.

Liam found Louis crying, in the middle of carrying everything upstairs.

They had managed to somewhat organize all the new things into the tiny apartment just in time for Mia to wake up. “Uncle Liam, you here!” she squealed with delight. 

“Yeah, princess, I came to see you and Daddy. I thought maybe I could treat you both to some take out tonight and maybe we could colour and play dolls together. What do you think?” Liam asked wrapping her up in a hug, trying to keep things positive for the little girl.

“Me thinks it’s a great idea. You my bestest Uncle.”

“I, I think it’s a great idea.” Louis quickly corrected with a small sniffle.

Liam had offered to stay the night with Louis if he wanted someone there but Louis declined, feeling the need to be alone. Louis had appreciated Liam coming to help him out and buying supper. He especially loved the fact that Liam had talked through things with him. By no means did he feel good about the situation. In fact, he knew he would break down again when Liam left.

***

Louis spent the next few days wandering the streets with Mia looking for another job. Most places were either not hiring or they were interested but once they found out that Mia would have to tag along most days they told Louis no.

Feeling discouraged, Louis gave up job searching and took Mia to the park instead. They had been there for the better part of an hour before they heard the familiar bell that signaled the ice cream truck had arrived.

Like clockwork, Mia came running over. “Daddy Daddy Daddy, Me have ice cream,” she pleaded using her biggest smile.

Louis felt horrible for having to say no. “Sorry, princess, Daddy doesn’t have money for ice cream today.” It must have been the hormones, or the fact that things were falling apart around him but he felt tears start running down his cheek. He wiped them away quickly in hopes that Mia hadn’t noticed but alas, it was too late.

“It okay, Daddy,” she said as she climbed on his lap on the bench and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Me no want ice cream.”

“Oh, princess, it’s okay.” Louis tried to put a smile on his face so his daughter wouldn’t worry. “How about we go home and see if we can’t make some cookies or something.”

Mia hopped off his lap and reached for his hand, dragging him in the direction of home. As they walked home they searched street signs and business signs for letters they recognized. Louis had been working on teaching Mia her letters and numbers lately. He thought she was pretty smart.

Liam was having tea when they got back to the shop. He was waiting for them, hoping he could hang out with them for the evening. Louis knew he just didn’t want him to feel alone and to make sure he was doing okay.

“Uncle Lili, Daddy me makin cookies. You want cookies?” Mia asked excitedly.

“Cookies, I love cookies.” Liam smiled back at the little girl and followed her as she led them up the stairs back into their apartment. “What kind are you going to make?”

“Me no know,” she shrugged, then looked toward her Dad. “What kind, Daddy?”

“Well, princess, we’ll have to see what we have first.” Louis just hoped that they had all the ingredients to make cookies, he wasn’t sure that he could handle disappointing his daughter twice in one day.

After going through their cupboards and looking for some recipes Louis found they didn’t have eggs or sugar. “I’m sorry, princess, we can’t make cookies without eggs and sugar.”

Mia started crying quietly. “No cookies,No ice cream, Daddy?” she sniffled.

“I know, love, Daddy wishes he could have bought you ice cream at the park today and that we could make some cookies together but Daddy needs to save his money right now.”

Liam didn’t want to step on Louis’ toes so he quietly asked if he could take Mia to the store. Louis finally gave in and watched as his daughter left the apartment with his best friend.

While they were gone at the store, Louis couldn’t help but lean on the counter with his head in his hands and let some tears fall. He hated that he couldn’t give his daughter the things she wanted. He hated that Alex had left them high and dry, he hated that Harry was on tour, and he hated that Liam had already done so much for the two of them lately. He was really feeling down about his situation and the lack of any kind of plan about how he was going to get them out of it.

He had managed to pull himself together and had a quick shower while Liam and Mia were gone. When he heard the door open and Mia’s excited little voice running to find him, he was folding some of her laundry and putting it away.

“Daddy, come see.” She excitedly pulled on Louis’ hand, dragging him to the kitchen where Liam was putting some things away.

“What is all this, Li?” Louis wasn’t sure how to react when he saw the bags Liam had placed around his kitchen.

“Just a few things Mia and I decided to grab while at the store is all. Nothing much, don’t be mad.” Liam looked over his shoulder and smiled. He was piling some fruit in the fruit bowl.

“This is more than a few things. I mean Mia doesn’t really need this ice cream or this expensive cereal, Liam. I can buy my own groceries you know.”

“I know you can, Louis, we were just having so much fun though. We also picked up some ingredients to make you a special supper tonight, didn’t we, princess.” Liam looked in Mia’s direction while placing a finger over his mouth to remind her not to tell Louis what they were going to make.

“Yeah Daddy. You watch TV, Uncle Lili and me cook.” Mia had a huge grin on her face and Louis knew he couldn’t say no to that.

Once the groceries were put away, Louis was escorted to the couch where Mia chose a princess movie for him to watch. Louis appeased her and didn’t change it. He did, however, fall asleep.

Mia gently woke Louis up an hour later to tell him that supper was ready and he should come to the kitchen to get some.


	14. Chapter 14

_3 months later_

At 8 months pregnant, Louis felt the size of a whale and he still had a month left. His sister, Lottie, and Liam had been so amazing at helping him pull together what they could for the baby. He didn’t have nearly what he would need to take proper care of a baby since he lost most of Mia’s things when he had left Alex. He had started to buy diapers instead of some of the things he needed for himself. He had enough of Mia’s baby clothes, there were a lot of pinks but he would have to make do.

He was refusing any more of Liam’s money because his friend had done more than enough, already having paid last month's rent to his mum and every time he came to visit brought some groceries. Louis only allowed it because he said it was for Mia and the little girl would get so excited when Uncle Liam pulled out her favourite fresh fruit and vegetables.

Cathy had needed to hire a new girl, named Katrina, to pick up Louis’ slack. Since he no longer had Alex to rely on he was only able to work when someone else was available to look after Mia. Cathy tended to let him have more of the late night hours so that he could put his daughter to bed and bring the video monitor down with him. The situation wasn’t ideal but Louis had never been a slacker.

One of the first things to go when Louis was short at the end of the month was his cell. He called his provider and asked to put a hold on his account. This way he wouldn’t have to buy out of his contract and he threw his phone in a drawer. He also found himself getting really good at shopping around for deals at the grocery stores. He and Mia would take a day and visit the various stores to buy only what they needed at the very lowest prices they could.

A friend of Cathy’s had also heard Louis was looking for some extra cash and had asked him to babysit for her a few times here and there. Mia really enjoyed having another little girl, Hannah, to play with. They got along really well and quickly became the best of friends. Louis managed to work in the shop once or twice for a couple of hours while Mia had a playdate at Hannah’s house.

Today Mia and Louis were on their way for an impromptu visit to Cathy’s. Mia was missing Louis’ youngest siblings and asked if they could go play for a little while. Louis was hoping to take them all to the park for awhile.

Lottie had decided to walk to the park with all the kids as well and Louis appreciated the company. When the kids all ran off to play a game Louis and Lottie didn’t quite understand called ‘grounders’, Louis went to a nearby bench and sat sideways so he could put his feet up. They were starting to swell a little, especially after all the walking today. Lottie sat beside him and put his feet on her lap, offering up a massage.

Louis started asking his sister all about her boyfriend and how things were going between them. He asked about how school was for all the kids and what it was like at home lately. Finding out anything he may have missed out on and catching up on all the family gossip.

“Enough about us, Lou, how have you been feeling lately?” Lottie asked while she gently rubbed Louis’ swollen ankles.

“Gigantic.” Louis placed his hands on his belly and gently rubbed circles over his skin. “Not too bad other than that really. I guess all the normal stuff when you’re a month away from giving birth.”

He tried to laugh it off and pretend like it was no big deal but his sister knew him better than that. Deep down, Louis knew he couldn’t fool her. “Come on Lou, what’s going on? What is really on your mind?” she asked.

“I don’t know, Lotts, I guess I’m just really nervous. About the actual birth process of course, but more so when it comes to being a single father of two. I thought I’d have tons of time to get my shit together. I also thought I would have found a job of some sort where I could bring Mia with me.” Louis turned his head from his sister and watched the kids playing and laughing together.

“You’ll rock single father of two, no question. You helped mum raise the six of us so two should be no problem. I wish I could help you with the job thing though, it really does suck.” Lottie seemed to be holding something back. She seemed like there was more she wanted to say but stopped herself.

“Go ahead, Lotts, you can tell me whatever it is,” Louis encouraged.

“I worry about you guys, Lou. We don’t talk much anymore since you gave up your phone. I worry that you aren’t going to be able to make ends meet at the end of the month. I’ve tried talking to mum about cutting you some slack on rent but she insists she is teaching you a life lesson.” Lottie looked worried.

Louis put his feet down and slowly sat upright and turned his body to face Lottie. He opened his arms and nodded for her to give him a hug, which she did. “I know, Lotts, I do too. I worry about all of those things and I get so mad at myself for getting into this situation. I would never want to take Mia back or this baby either,”Louis said rubbing his sister’s back as they remained in each other's arms. “I love this little one so much already. So does Mia actually. We read to the baby together every night before bed and she sings all these amazing songs to my tummy.” Louis let a small smile escape his lips and sat back from the embrace.

“She’s a good kid, you’ve done so well with her, Lou. Despite all the shit Alex put you through, you’ve done alright and I am proud of you for that.”

“Thanks, it means a lot to me that you say that. I know mum and I haven’t seen eye to eye on a lot of things lately but I really appreciate you always being here to support me and the stupid things I keep doing.”

“I always will be, Lou, I’ll always do whatever I can for you, for Mia, and for this little bean here.” Lottie gave her older brother a smile and placed her hands lovingly on his pregnant belly.

“Speaking of which..” Louis began hesitantly. “Do you think you can keep the kids busy when we go back? I need to talk to mum about something and I don’t think it's going to go over very well.”

“Course, what’s up?”

“I don’t think I’ll be able to make rent this month. I only made enough to buy groceries or cover rent and Mia needs to eat. I’ve been having a tough enough time taking care of Mia by myself nevermind working on top of that.”

“Oh Lou, I’m so sorry. I hope she goes easy on you, I really do.” Lottie leaned over and gave her brother another hug and left a quick kiss on his forehead. “Why don’t you start making your way back and talk to her now. I’ll give the kids another ten or fifteen minutes before I bring them back. We will stay outside until you and mum are finished talking?”

Louis stood up and thanked his sister again before heading over to Mia and tell her to be a good girl and listen to Auntie Lottie. He made sure to tell her that he would see her back at Nanny’s house in a little while.

***

Louis took his head out of his hands and took a deep breath before looking up from where he was sitting on the front steps of the house. The conversation with his mum was shorter than he thought and didn't go as planned whatsoever. His mum remained calm throughout and apologized for what she felt she had to do.

Right now, Louis was waiting for Mia to get back so they could walk home. He was really hoping Liam didn’t have any plans and wanted to hang out tonight, Louis needed a distraction.

“Daddy!” Mia shouted as she spotted him outside and ran toward him with her arms open for a hug.

“Achoo!” came a chorus from Doris and Ernie at the same time, both running toward Louis as well. 

“We missed you, Achoo, so much.” Doris told Louis.

“You did, Doris?” Louis chuckled quietly. “I was only gone for like half an hour, love.”

“Well, we still missed you. We always miss you when you aren’t with us.” Ernie stated matter of factly.

“Well Mia and I always miss you lot too.” Louis looked at Mia, “Don’t we, princess.”

“Yeah, me miss Papa. Daddy…” Mia tried to crawl on what little of Louis’ lap wasn’t being overtaken from his protruding belly. “When me see Papa?”

Louis looked at Lottie, both their faces fell. “I’m not really sure, princess.” Louis couldn’t possibly tell his daughter that her other father took off on her, much like his own father had done to him. “Why don’t you all go inside. Mia, love, please go say goodbye to Nanny. We have to get home now.

“Okay, Daddy.” Mia followed the other kids inside the house.

“Okay, Lou, spill.” Lottie said as she took a seat on the step beside him.

“Well it was hard to tell how she actually felt about it really. Her face was emotionless and cold. She apologized for what she felt she had to do but it was over quickly. I’ve been sitting out here waiting for you for a while actually.” Louis didn’t look at Lottie, instead he kept his eyes forward.

“What does that even mean Lou?” Lottie pried.

“It means she is giving me a ‘grace period’ as she called it.” Louis began, using air quotes and everything. “She is giving me this month but told me that if I miss another rent payment she was going to have to ask me to leave.”

“What?” Lottie screeched. “She actually said she was going to kick you out, like you and Mia and the baby?”

“Yeah, I mean I get it. I understand it’s just business and it sucks…” Louis started defending Cathy.

“Are you seriously defending her, Lou? She’s our mum and she is going to kick her son out of his house with his three year old daughter and a newborn?” Lottie was fuming mad at the news.

“Calm down, Lottie, it’s not your problem to get involved in. I’ve made a lot of shitty choices in my life and these are the consequences. I’ll have to figure out what the hell to do. I still don’t have a carseat to bring the baby home from the hospital or a crib. Do you know anyone that might lend me a carseat for a couple of hours?” Louis tried changing the subject, not wanting to think too much about the possibility of being homeless with two kids.

“Come on, Lou, you can’t just sweep this under the rug. If you end up on the street they’ll take your kids.” Lottie started crying. “You can’t let them take your kids, Lou.”

Louis struggled to stand up from the low step he was sitting on, finally successful. “Don’t be silly, no one is going to take my kids anywhere.”

Louis gave his sister another hug and said goodbye to his other siblings before collecting Mia. As the two made their way home, they stopped briefly at Liam’s house to see if he wanted to hang out later. Liam wasn’t home and without a phone, Louis took it as a loss and continued home with Mia.

Another couple of weeks passed, Louis had grown even more and his doctor was happy with how things were progressing with his pregnancy. During his last visit, Louis was told to expect the baby any day now. Being his second pregnancy, he was told that his body knew what to do and there was a good possibility he would deliver early.

As much as Mia and Louis were looking forward to finally meeting the new addition to their family, Louis wasn’t at all ready for their arrival. Being pregnant a second time was so much more difficult than the first. Having a busy three year old with a ginormous stomach was an experience all right. He was constantly exhausted and always uncomfortable.

Louis could no longer see his toes or get on the floor to play with Mia. Mia was getting fed up with the baby taking up all the room on her Daddy's lap, leaving no space for her. She had, however, found a new spot to cuddle into Louis’ side whenever they were watching movies together.

With the birth of his baby close, he thought more and more about Harry. He missed having him around, all the fun and laughter he brought with him. He thought about their baby, what he or she might look like. Whose hair, eyes, smile, laugh, the baby would have. On occasion he wondered if he made the right decision in not trying to contact Harry and telling him about their baby. 

Liam had been busy with work, trying to get as far ahead as possible so that when the time came he could be around to help Louis. He also found himself very lonely as of late, with only Mia to talk to. Louis’ doctor told him he needed to be taking it easy and resting until the baby came so he hadn’t been to work since telling his mum he couldn’t make rent.

No work meant no money, no money meant next month he wouldn’t be able to make rent either. No money also meant no food, the cupboards were sparse and Louis wasn’t sure when he would be able to afford to go buy some more. Lottie had been around a few days ago and brought some staples to make sure that Louis and Mia were both eating.

Lottie and Liam both found out that Louis had skipped meals a few times to save it for his daughter. Liam had made sure to come back every two or three days and brought supper with him, staying to make sure Louis wasn’t just putting his in the fridge for Mia the next day.

Things weren’t looking up for Louis in the near future either. With no income in sight and a baby due any day, Louis had another conversation with his mum. This one was more depressing than the last.

Cathy loved her son and grandchildren so much and couldn’t just throw them on the streets. She told Louis not to worry about rent and gave him four months to find somewhere else to live. For Louis that meant finding somewhere that would accept a 3 year old, a 4 month old and himself to live and without any income.


	15. Chapter 15

With bloodshot eyes, Louis picked up his heavy, tired body off the couch and picked his son out of the laundry basket he was currently sleeping in. He carried him over to the couch, bringing a clean diaper and wipes with him. Ever since Louis gave birth two weeks ago, the baby had been eating every three hours. He was a fussy baby and needed cuddling to fall asleep. Louis knew this stage wouldn’t last forever so he chose to embrace it while he could.

He made quick work of changing the wet diaper and setting it aside to be disposed of later. Louis swaddled his baby back up tightly and took off his own top, wrapping a blanket over his own legs to keep warm. Propping his arm up on a stack of cushions, Louis brought the babies mouth to his nipple. He waited until he could feel a good latch before relaxing his body into the couch.

Mia had taken to her brother really well. She loved to sing to him and help Louis when she could. The two of them loved when the baby was napping every morning because it meant they got to spend some time together. Louis, however, loved when both his kids napped in the afternoon because that meant he could shower, prepare supper, or anything else that needed to be done.

During the night feedings, Louis let his mind wander. Sometimes he would think about what his kids would be when they grew up or how he would fit all his expenses in his budget, which was nonexistent. Tonight though, he looked down at his beautiful baby boy and he couldn’t help but think of Harry.

Part of Louis was sad for Harry, that he wasn’t here to experience all these things with his first child. The bigger part of him knew it was for the best. He wasn’t going to be the one to ruin his career and his reputation over one stupid night. Sure, Louis enjoyed spending time with Harry while he was around. Sure, Georgia would say that they were dating and how she knew how much they cared for each other. She didn’t know what she was talking about, a guy like Louis would never have a hope for a relationship with Harry Styles. Having sex with someone one night was a lot different than going home to them, taking in a child that wasn’t theirs off the get go, and having to be faithful to one person while you are touring the world with endless possibilities.

When his son had enough to eat, Louis threw the receiving blanket over his shoulder and set the baby on top of it, gently tapping his back. When Louis was satisfied, he would switch sides and repeat the process over again.

A while later, Louis was having a hard time getting the little one back to sleep. For fear of walking up Mia, he went with his gut and started gently singing. _“We’re running through the garden oh, where nothing bothered us but we’re still young. I always think about you and how we don’t speak enough.”_

Before he knew it, he was holding a sleeping baby. As he placed his son on the blankets he had used as a mattress in the laundry basket, Louis couldn’t help but sing the chorus through once more. _“Sweet creature, sweet creature, wherever I go, you bring me home.”_ By the time he was done, he could feel a pang in his heart, one that felt a lot like loneliness and longing.

He longed for someone to share his time with, for someone to love, for someone to love him back, for smiles, for happiness, for no worries, and for a family for him and his children. He wanted everything for his children and knew that Harry was the easy answer. Louis realized that although he thought he loved Harry, it was only because he was raising his son and that was it. The same way he would always love Alex; if it weren’t for Alex he wouldn’t have Mia and his kids were the best thing to happen to him and he would do anything for them.

***

Getting both kids ready took longer now that Mia was so insistent on putting on her own shoes and coat. It just meant that Louis needed to start getting ready earlier now. He really did like the fact that she helped him and herself out so much.

Louis was surprised to see Liam waiting outside for them with his car running. Louis smiled at his best friend, “Hey Li, what are you doing here?”

“Uncle Lili!” Mia squealed with delight as she climbed into her carseat.

“Good morning, princess, you look beautiful today.” Liam smiled at her.

She had asked to wear a pretty skirt so Louis pulled one that was the cleanest and matched it with a unicorn shirt. He braided her hair into two braids, having had lots of practice growing up with sisters.

Liam then turned to Louis. “I’m here to take you to this little guy’s appointment.” He took the carseat from Louis and snapped it into the car safely.

Louis was so thankful to have the best friend anyone could ask for. Liam had bought Louis a carseat and surprised him at the hospital when he had come to visit after giving birth. The doctor wouldn’t discharge Louis or his son without one.

“How did you know we had an appointment today?” Louis was curious.

“I’m your best friend Lou, it’s my job.” Liam giggled, “Don’t you remember? You asked me if I would give you a ride a couple of days ago when I brought you guys supper.”

“No, honestly, I don’t remember going to sleep last night, Li. I’m so tired and my brain is basically mush. You should have told me you were on your way so we could have been waiting for you,” Louis said as he and Liam clicked their seatbelts and the car started.

“Seriously Lou, you doing okay?” Liam looked sideways with a worried look on his face. “You don’t have a phone so I couldn’t. How about I take Mia to play while you and the little man go to your appointment. I’ll pick you up and take you back to mine for lunch.”

“Yeah, sure. Whatever you want,” Louis sleepily trailed off.

A few moments later Louis was being woken up. “Come on Lou, we’re here. I’ve got the little man here for you and I’ll keep Mia with me.”

“Hmm,” Louis said looking around. He hadn’t realized he even fell asleep in the first place. “Oh thanks, you really are the best, Li, and we owe you so big.” Louis put his arms around Liam and squeezed him tighter before taking his son from him and leaving a quick kiss on his cheek. “See you in a bit, yeah?”

“Yeah, we’ll be here waiting for you, Lou.” Liam leaned against his car.

***

A while later Louis walked to the parking lot with his son back in his carseat fussing. He hadn’t appreciated being pricked with a needle. He quickly found Liam and Mia waiting nearby and they all got into the car.

A short drive to Liam’s found him giving his son a bath while his best friend and daughter whipped up some lunch.

“So, Mia,” Liam started “How about you and I make a special treat for after supper while we let Daddy have a nap?”

“Can we please?” Mia excitedly looked in Louis direction, hoping for permission.

“That would be so nice of you princess. Do you think that you could help Uncle Liam watch your brother for Daddy to? Show him how to change his diaper when he wakes up?” Louis gave his best friend a thankful smile and his daughter a hug.

They finished eating and Louis put both of his kids down to sleep for a couple of hours.

“Hey, Li.” Louis walked into his friend's kitchen. “Mind if I take a hot shower before I lay down? I don’t get a chance very often.”

“Of course, Lou, you’re always welcome to whatever, whenever at my place. Sleep as long as you like, I’ll wake you when it’s feeding time.”

“Thanks, Li, I needed this you know,” Louis said as he headed towards the bathroom.

***

That night, when Liam dropped them off back at their apartment, Louis spent the evening sitting on the kitchen floor alone with only a candle for light.

Having a two month old made it nearly impossible to work. Staying home with two kids took a toll on the bank account without money going in. With the weather turning colder, Louis contemplated where he was going to take his kids. Without heat, blankets and sweaters would only take you so far.

A place to live was still one of the biggest worries on his mind, how to feed his daughter being the other. He was thankful his son was strictly breastfed for at least another four months.

Louis knew he was going to have to start making regular visits to the food bank shortly. This was not what he pictured for his life. Not what he pictured when he found out he was pregnant with Mia and made the decision to keep her. 

As Louis was deep in life contemplation and how he could get his kids out of this situation, he heard a cry coming from beside the couch.

He stood up right away and picked up his son and settled himself on the couch so he was comfortable enough. He lifted his son to his shoulder and started to shush him back to sleep.

After ten minutes of trying to calm the crying baby, Louis started crying himself. Without even thinking about what he was doing, it was just natural by this point, he started singing.

_Sweet creature, sweet creature_

_Wherever I go, you bring home_

_Sweet creature, sweet creature_

_When I run out of road, you bring me home_

Within minutes, the crying had stopped and Louis gently set his baby boy back in his makeshift bed in the laundry basket on the floor. When his son was snuggled back into bed, Louis laid down on the couch himself, beside his son, and drifted to sleep too.


	16. Chapter 16

Louis’ son was a few days past four months now and Mia was half way between three and four years old. Things in his life hadn’t gotten much better in the last couple months and he was now being evicted by his mum. She had told him that she loved him and her grandchildren so much but she couldn’t continue to give him a free ride and felt he needed to start living with his consequences. 

Before she gave him a moving date for the following weekend, she told him that they were to come for family dinner every Sunday night without question or excuse.

This is how Louis found himself waking up to a screaming baby and a whiny daughter. They were all tired from not sleeping properly, and mostly hungry from only managing off what he could get from the food bank every month.

Liam had taken another long work trip, this time a month long. Louis had come to depend on his best friend’s generosity and the meals he had been bringing over. Between him and Lottie, who was currently on holiday with her boyfriend, they made sure that he and the kids didn’t starve.

“I know you’re hungry, princess. Let me finish feeding your brother and I’ll find something to make for breakfast, okay?” Louis said as he left a kiss to the top of Mia’s head.

“Okay, Daddy, how about finding more boxes?” she asked.

“It’s okay love, you go ahead and play with your toys before we have to pack them up too. You remember that we are going to move in a few days so we will have to leave most of your toys here, right.” Louis stated matter of factly.

“Yeah, Daddy,” Mia said as she turned and walked toward her bedroom.

When Louis’ son was done his feeding routine, Louis set him down on the floor in the kitchen with a toy of his own. After looking through his cupboards and fridge, he managed to find enough mix to make a couple of pancakes for Mia’s breakfast. Deciding, once again, to go without so that he could stretch what little they had left for his daughter.

Louis hadn’t bothered changing in days, wearing his pair of stained and ripped grey joggers with a very holy, equally stained old t-shirt. He knew he looked awful and probably didn’t smell the freshest either. It had been at least two, no maybe three, days since his last shower and change of clothes. He was overtired and worried about the future for him and his kids.

There was no time for self pity because he was down to the wire to finish packing his things and trying to jam them all into Mia’s room. His mum said he could use it as storage until he could take their belongings elsewhere. While the kids napped, he folded clothing and placed them neatly into boxes, carefully packed their pictures, books, and other items away. He only allowed himself to sleep late into the night after his little man had his final feeding of the night.

***

Louis was trying to pack things from the kitchen into a box while trying to hush Mia, who was running wildly around the apartment as her brother tried to sleep.

A knock at the door interrupted Louis. He shuffled his way to the door, opened it slowly and felt his breath catch at who was on the other side.

“Shit, Lou, you look… horrible.”

Louis’ words stumble slightly, he didn’t really know what to say. “Uhhh… Harry?”

Mia came sliding around the corner and let her body slam into Louis’ leg. She poked her head out from behind him and pointed her finger at Harry. “Um, who are you?”

Harry crouched to get on Mia’s level. “You don’t remember me?”

Mia shook her head.

“Remember when we went to the park while Daddy was working and we bought ice cream and I gave you a ride on my back?”

“Harry!” she squealed, running toward him for a hug. “Where you go?”

He returned the hug. “Sorry kiddo, I had to work. I’m home now, though.”

“I’m a big sister now. Daddy says I’m the best big sister.” She threw the biggest grin, puffing out her chest.

“I bet you are!” He told her happily.

Louis cleared his throat and picked up an empty box that was laying on the floor beside him and passed it to Mia. “Princess, can you take this box to your room and pack some of your toys for Daddy, please?”

“Okay. Daddy. I keep my dolls though?” Mia looked at him with a hopeful look in her eyes.

“Yes, we can take your dolls with us.”

With that said, Mia dragged the box to her room behind her as Louis watched until she disappeared into her room. When he turned back to Harry, he was standing on his feet and looking around the tiny apartment. Louis knew that Harry must be confused at the wall of packed boxes they were standing beside and the state he was in.

“So…” Harry started, “you were right, a lot can happen in a year.”

“I can explain, Harry. I think I have a tea bag left if you want a cup,” Louis offered as a wave of nausea came over him. “We should talk.”

“Sure, yeah… I mean I guess.”

“How did the tour go?” Louis asked as if he hadn’t been bugging Liam for all the details from Zayn and following it online when he could.

“Amazing!” Harry’s face turned lighter. “I met so many great fans and it was so good to get up close and interact with some of them. In New York, there was this one girl…” He paused briefly. “Wait a minute, you had a baby while I was gone. Can we get back to that?”

Almost as if on cue, there was a piercing cry followed by Mia running into the kitchen. “Daddy, Eddie crying.” Before she turned on the balls of her feet and disappeared again.

“Fuck,” Louis muttered under his breath so Harry couldn’t hear him as he left the room to go get his son. When he re-entered the kitchen, he was holding Eddie over his shoulder and rubbing circles on his back. “Hey little man, Daddy’s here. It's okay. yeah.”

When he went quiet, Louis turned him around to face Harry. Harry didn’t say a word for a good moment or two, just stared between Louis and the baby. “Harry, this is Edward. Well, we call him Eddie.”

“What the fuck, Lou.” Harry stated calmly, turning around to walk back out the door and letting the door slam behind him.

“Well fuck,” Louis said to himself. _This was exactly why I couldn’t tell him,_ he thought to himself.


	17. Chapter 17

**Harry**

By the time Harry parked in his driveway, Zayn was already there waiting for him. The door was left unlocked so he went inside and kicked off his shoes, threw his phone and keys on the nearby table.

“Zee,” he called loudly, “you’d better be sitting down.”

“In here,” Harry heard Zayn call from his couch. “Talk to me, Haz, what happened?”

“Fuck, Zee, I can’t believe him. Why… How… I thought he was different.” Harry started pacing the floor in front of Zayn while running his hands through his hair.

“Wow, slow down a sec will ya.” Zayn stood up and put his hands on Harry’s shoulders, stilling him. “Give me some more details so I can understand you.”

Harry stepped away from Zayn, turning around to face the wall to ceiling window that overlooked a green area of forest. He forcibly placed the palm of both hands on the window before growling and turning back around to look at his friend.

“Louis had a baby, my baby.” Harry held up a finger to stop Zayn from saying anything until he could find the words he wanted to say. “He looks just like me, Zee. I mean I think he’s got Louis’ eyes but he’s a spitting image of me at the same age. He didn’t even try to contact me, he didn’t say a word. Based on the look on his face when Mia blurted it out he wasn’t going to tell me either.”

“Wow, slow down,” Zayn tried. “So Louis had a baby and he said it’s yours.”

“No, he said his name was Edward but they call him Eddie. Looked to be only a couple months old which means the times all add up. I did the math on my way here.” Harry started pacing the floor again. “He has the same hair colour as me, my dimple, my nose, shit Zee he looks just like me - it’s scary. How could Louis not tell me? What the hell am I supposed to do now? He should have told me, I would have been there. I couldn’t help take care of them and make sure they have what they need. I missed it all, the appointments, the pregnancy, his whole birth. What the actual fuck is wrong with him? I thought he wasn’t like everyone else. I thought there was no way he could do something like this. Fuck, Zayn, I’m a dad.”

Zayn wrapped his arms around Harry in a hug, making the man be still once more. Zayn encouraged him to sit but Harry couldn’t. He could feel the anger, the betrayal continued to rise inside of him.

“Let’s take this one step at a time, Harry. So you and Louis have a son, Eddie, you said his name was?”

“Yeah, I mean I’m pretty sure that’s what Lou said.”

“Alright, that's good, yeah. You’ve always talked about having kids and sure it's shit that you’re just finding out but you can be there for them going forward.”

“The future, of course I’m going to be there and raise my son. Fuck…” Harry trailed off and stared off into space for a moment, _I’ve got a son, I’m a dad_. 

“I know its a lot to take in Harry and that you’re upset and hurt that Louis didn’t tell you about it.”

“Zee, I’m not sure if he was ever going to tell me. How can someone do that? I’m not a bad person and I missed it all.”

“I know, Haz, but think about it for a moment from Louis’ perspective.” Zayn went quiet and Harry could see him watch out of the corner of his eye.

“His perspective, what do you mean?”

“Well, since you didn’t tell me anything about sleeping with him, I can only assume that it was a one time thing. Am I right?”

“Yeah, the night before we left. We both had a lot to drink and we used a fucking condom, Zee. I pulled it out of my own wallet, it was sticky and gross but I didn’t think about it then.”

“Too much detail, a yes would have been perfect.”

“Sorry Zee, I’m just so pissed that he didn’t tell me. I don’t understand why the hell he wouldn’t have. I mean he knows I have the means that I could have taken care of them. You should have seen the state he was in too. Looked fucking awful. He has definitely lost weight, he and the kids had dirty clothes and I’m not sure that he has showered in the last 48 hours. There were boxes everywhere, Zee, he told me that he would give me his last tea bag. Where the hell could he possibly be going, two kids and a crappy job?”

“I don’t know any of that, Harry, that’s something you’ll have to talk to him about.”

“He doesn’t want me involved, obviously. I can’t fucking talk to him again. No wonder he didn’t answer my calls or texts when I got back. I feel like such a douche bag. I’m not like Alex.”

“You can and you will. Again, go back to his perspective. You two fucked once, before you left and that was it. He never heard from you again and knew he wouldn’t for like a year. You’re a world famous rock star with millions of dollars and just as many followers. He was probably scared shitless, maybe he thought you’d turn him away and think he was using you. Maybe he was worried about you, think of the shit storm that would have occurred if he told you or a reporter. I mean Liam didn’t write about it either, so there has to be a good reason. Not to mention he already has a daughter with an awful dead beat that left as soon as he found out about him being pregnant again.”

“I suppose you could be right, I never thought about what he could have been going through. Shit, I really am an asshole aren’t I? I just left, Zee.” Harry let out a huff and felt the anger dissipate into frustration, mostly with himself now. It was then he realized that he was the idiot, the asshole, the douche bag. 

“Yeah H, you were an asshole.”

When he looked up again, Zayn was staring at him with a sympathetic look in his eyes. He could tell his friend was emotional watching him go through all of this as well. While the two men looked in silence, he was letting all of what Zayn had said really sink in. Then he knew that he needed to go back and talk to Louis, he needed to give him the benefit and get his side. The two of them had so much to discuss going forward and it needed to start with an apology to Louis.

Harry stood up tall and headed back to the door and put his shoes back on, picking up his keys and putting his phone back in his pocket.

“Where are you going now?” Zayn asked.

“Going to talk to Louis. Mia should be in bed by the time I go back so I’m likely to be late.” Harry started walking out the door, pressing the remote start on his keys and listening as the engine roared to life. He stepped back in the house, just enough to see Zayn was now standing at the door watching him leave. “You knew, didn’t you?”

“Liam told me but it wasn’t my news to tell, H…” Zayn looked down to his hands before continuing. “Don’t be mad at me, please.”

“Fuck, Zee, we aren’t done with this and we will talk about this later.”

“I know,” was all that Zayn said before Harry walked back out the door and got into his car. Driving away from his house back to Louis and his son. He had a son!

***

**Louis**

“And they lived happily ever after.” Louis said as he closed the book, standing to tuck Mia in. “Before you even bother asking, no more stories tonight.”

“Daddy, how come Harry no play me?” Mia wondered out loud.

“Well, princess, he couldn’t stay long. He had some things to do at home.” Louis didn’t hesitate with a lie to cover the truth; he had gotten used to making them for Alex.

He placed a kiss on Mia's forehead before turning off the light. As he was leaving, shutting the door behind himself, he turned to her one more time. “I love you.”

He heard Mia giggle, “Love you 3000, Daddy!”

Once his daughter was tucked safely into bed, Louis checked on his sleeping son. Eddie was due to wake up for a feeding before too long so Louis decided to grab an empty box and fill it with books and various things from the bookshelves.

It was as he finished taping the box up and adding it to the pile that he heard a knock on the door, in turn waking up his son.

Louis picked up his crying son and carried him to the door to see who would be coming around at this time of night.

Once the door was opened, he found Harry standing there staring at him. Louis was having a hard time reading his expression, it seemed to be a mix of different emotions all rolled into one.

“Harry?” he questioned as he repositioned Eddie up on his shoulder. “Didn’t expect to see you again.”

“Really?” Harry seemed shocked by his response. “Why wouldn’t I come back, you have my son. Eddie is my son, isn’t he?”

“Who else’s baby would it be?” Louis was almost offended by that comment but decided that wasn’t the issue to push.

“Fair enough, I deserve that for walking out like I did.” Harry was kicking at a piece of trim that needed to be repaired. “Can I come in, we need to talk.”

“I guess, I mean if you want.” Louis wasn’t opposed to the idea but he wasn’t really sure what they were going to talk about or why they needed to talk at all. He thought the situation was quite clear but maybe he was wrong.

Louis opened the door completely, taking a step back and allowing room for Harry to come through. He watched as he took his boots off and hung his coat on the rack, leading him to the couches and taking a seat.

“I hope you don’t mind,” Louis began as he set Eddie down on his lap and took off his shirt. “He’s hungry so I need to feed him.”

“Ah, no, of course not.” Harry wasn’t really sure what to say or where to look. “Do whatever you need to do, Lou.”

Louis ignored the stares he could feel coming from Harry as he latched their son to his nipple and felt his little mouth start to suck fiercely. Once Eddie was happily eating, Louis looked toward Harry.

“What was it that you wanted to talk about?” Louis asked calmly even though he felt nervous and unsure about any of what was happening. He was also so tired it was quite possible he was imagining things in his delusional state that was now the norm.

“The fact that we apparently have a kid together, a son, Eddie.” Harry said with a bit of an awkward mixed with anger kind of tone.

“Yeah, I had a baby while you were gone, yes. Eddie is very much your son. What is it that you want to talk about, Harry?”

“There’s so much we need to discuss, I really don’t know where to start.” Louis could definitely sense anger in Harry’s voice. 

What he didn’t understand was why. Why was Harry so angry about Louis having his baby? Louis hasn’t asked him for anything and doesn’t expect anything from him. It wasn’t Harry’s decision to have Eddie and Louis respected that so he really didn’t understand why Harry was mad.

“What are mad about?” Louis just decided to come out and ask.

“I’m mad because you had a bloody baby, Louis. My bloody baby and you didn’t bother to ask me if this is what I want.” Harry’s voice grew stronger, with more anger behind it as he stood up and stared right into Louis’ eyes. “You didn’t even tell me anything, nothing at all. Zayn knew but I didn’t. Did you think I wasn’t going to find out when I fucking came back from tour, Louis? Do you really think I’m stupid enough to not notice another human being around? Not to mention he fucking looks just like me. Do you even know what it’s like to go away and work your ass off, away from everything and everyone for an entire year and come home to visit someone you called a friend to find them holding a miniature version of yourself in their arms?” Harry was practically spitting now.

Louis could tell he was being courteous and keeping his voice down so he didn’t wake Mia. This was most definitely not something Louis was used to.

Louis sat and let Harry say everything he needed to without interrupting him. When Eddie pulled himself off Louis’ nipple, he quietly and expertly arranged him on his lap to get him to burp before switching nipples.

“No.” Louis was straight and to the point. “I don’t know what that’s like, nor have I ever pretended that I do. I didn’t tell Zayn, Liam must have and we are going to have a chat about that. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, I really am. I made the best choice I could. I did it for you, Harry.”

Harry interrupted at that point. “How is not telling me I have a son in my best bloody interest, Louis? Because that sounds like the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“You’re a fucking international star, Harry, and I am nobody who can’t take care of himself apparently. I have no job, no way to feed my kids, for Christ sake I don’t even have a place for them to live. How the fuck is that going to look to the rest of the world, huh?” Louis felt a tear run fall down his cheek. “What a shit show that would be. The media would be all over us and I’d be painted as this horrible gold digger out for your money. I’d have no way to keep the kids safe from them, Harry. What about you, how the hell do you think it would have gone over for you? Once the media got hold of the story you would have been ruined too and your career down the drain. You would have been another washed up rock and roll star that got in over his head and couldn’t handle the fame. There was no way I could ruin everything you’ve worked for.”

Louis and Harry just looked at each other in silence for a few moments.

“I got myself into this mess and I’ll deal with it.” Louis stood, setting Eddie back down in his laundry basket bed. When he was asleep again, Louis put his shirt back on and started ushering Harry toward the door. “You should just go, Harry. Don’t worry about us, we'll figure it out somehow. Get out of this mess while you still can. Don’t let my bad decisions ruin you too.” Louis looked toward Harry and then toward the door with such sad eyes.

Harry never moved from beside the couch, stood staring at Louis and Louis didn’t know what else to say. He walked back over to Harry and as a last ditch effort, “Please Harry, just go.”

Harry didn’t move, instead he put his hands on Louis cheeks gently. “You really did all of this to protect me and the kids, Lou?”

“Well yeah. It clearly didn’t benefit me in any way now did it?” Uncomfortable with the touch and the proximity to Harry, Louis took a few steps away. “Like I said, you don’t have to be involved in any of this, Harry. No hard feelings, you can just walk away from all of this and we can sweep it under the rug.”

“I don’t know who the hell you think I am, Louis, but I can’t just walk away from this.” 

“I’ve known our son longer than I have you, so no, I didn’t know that,” was how Louis responded.

It was then that, for the very first time, Harry looked down at his son. Eddie was laying on his back, swaddled in a warm pink blanket sound asleep with a full tummy.

Louis watched as Harry’s entire demeanour changed. His shoulders dropped, his breath hitched, even the corners of his lips turned up slightly.

“You can pick him up, hold him if you want to. He is your son!” Louis said quietly.

“Oh I couldn’t, I don’t want to risk waking him.”

“He’ll go right back to sleep.” Louis bent over and picked Eddie up and handed him over to Harry.

Harry reached his arms out, accepting his son. Louis watched as Harry looked down at his son in his arms for the first time, both men smiled.

Louis sat back on the couch, on the opposite end as Harry, and let himself sink into it as he watched Harry hold their son tightly in his arms.

“Hey Eddie, I’m your Papa. I’m so glad I finally got to meet you. Sorry I wasn’t there when you were born, I was off working so Daddy couldn’t tell me about you until now. I love you already though, I sure do.” Harry quietly said to his son.

The last thing Louis heard before his exhaustion took hold of him and he fell asleep was, “Move in with me, Louis.”


	18. Chapter 18

The next morning, Louis woke the same way he had every day for the last couple of months, by Eddie crying for breakfast. The thing that was unusual about the morning though was the smell of bacon cooking.

He was quick to leap up off the couch and pick up his crying son and look toward the kitchen. There he found Harry and Mia cooking bacon, eggs, and toast together.

“Good morning you two.” Louis threw Harry a confused look as he gave Mia a quick morning kiss. “What are both of you up to?”

“Making breakfast, silly.” Mia let out a tiny giggle. “Harry said we let Daddy sleep until Eddie waked up.”

“He did, did he?” Louis gave her a smile. “Well that was very nice of the both of you. Where did you get all this food, Harry? I’m really sorry but I can’t pay you back.” Louis was worried that he would never be able to pay Harry back for any of this. 

“You don’t have to, Lou. Mia woke me up excitedly and said she was hungry. I went to get her something to eat and you have no food.”

Louis looked away from Harry at this point. He was embarrassed and didn’t want Harry to find out any more about his financial situation.

“It’s alright, Lou. You don’t have to be embarrassed and I hope you don’t mind. Mia and I walked to the store just down the way and picked some stuff up. I took your keys with me so I could let us back in without waking you.”

“Ah, yeah. Okay. I guess I’ll leave you two to it. I’ve got to change the little man’s diaper and as you can tell he is hungry.”

“You go ahead and take care of him, Mia and I have breakfast taken care of, right?”

“Yeah Daddy, we bring you breakfast.”

Once everyone had full tummies and breakfast had been cleared away, Louis turned to talk to Harry. “You stayed over?”

“Yeah, well you fell asleep so quickly so I kinda just put my head back and slept with Eddie on my chest. I couldn’t put him down, Lou, he is so perfect and so lovely. I love him so much already.”

“Yeah,” Louis smiled as he glanced over to where his two children were playing together on their stomachs. “I fell in love with him pretty quickly myself.”

“We really need to chat, we have so much to figure out.”

“I suppose we do.” Louis looked away from Harry and to the stack of empty boxes beside him and sighed.

“What is it, Lou? What’s wrong?” Harry stepped toward Louis but Louis backed away.

“Nothing, everything… I just… I don’t know what I’m doing Harry and I’ve been so stubborn.” Louis could feel himself losing control of his emotions and hid his face in his hands. “I am tired of pretending everything is okay when it clearly isn’t and I’m tired of being a shitty father to my kids and I’m out of options. Now I’ve gone and done what I set out not to do, get you involved in all of this.”

“Woah, slow down. First of all you need to stop blaming yourself for this, for Eddie. I was there too and I made the same choices that you did so I am just as much to blame.” 

Harry made another attempt to move closer to Louis, this time Louis let him. Louis felt Harry’s hands come to rest on his shoulders, he could feel the heat from Harry’s body seep into his own and it was comforting. Louis took his hands away from his face and laid them at his sides.

“I was the one to make the choice to have him and to keep him though. I never wanted you to find out, you were better off not knowing, Harry.”

“You keep saying that but I don’t believe it for a minute. What would you tell Eddie when he got older, when he asked about me?”

“The truth, that you never knew because I thought it was better that way.”

“I’m curious about something though, Lou. How did you figure I’d never find out?”

“You left, I never thought you’d come back. Especially not to me, we hung out for a couple of weeks and then you left. I never thought I’d see you again.”

“It breaks my heart that you thought that. I told you I’d come back when it was over.”

“I know you did but I never thought you actually would. I'm nobody, why would you want to be friends with me?”

“You’re not a nobody, Lou. You are a fun guy and such a great dad. You have given up everything for your kids and that is an admirable quality to have.”

“Real admirable I am. Look at me, Harry, look at my life. I have two young kids with two very different fathers. I have no food or means to get any for them, my own mum has evicted me because I can’t pay rent and I have nowhere to go. I have to be out of here tomorrow and I don’t know what to do. For fuck sake, Harry, I haven’t even been able to take a shower in days and my clothes are old, worn, and filthy. My sister and best friend have been sneaking laundry out of my house so that the kids have clean clothes to wear because I can’t find it in myself to ask for help.”

“Stop, Lou.” Harry squeezed his hands on his shoulders slightly tighter, “Come live with me, you and the kids. I have lots of space, you and the kids can each have your own bedroom.”

Louis just stared at Harry, it took him a minute or two to be able to put words together to form a sentence. “I couldn’t possibly, Harry. I don’t want us to be a burden on you and I don’t want you to feel like you have to give me anything.”

“You’re not a burden. Look, I’m Eddie’s father too and therefore it is my responsibility to look out for him and you as well. Eddie needs you to take care of him and will for years to come so it’s important to me that you’re okay as well. I’ll call a moving team and we can have you moved into my house by the end of tomorrow.”

“The paps though, I don’t want them around me or the kids. They aren’t safe, Harry, I’ve heard stories.” Louis wasn’t sure how to say no to this incredible offer.

“Me too, Louis. I don’t mean my public house. Come with me to my private house. We can decorate one of the guest rooms however Mia wants and it can be hers. There is one we can make up for Eddie and one for you too, if you want it.”

“So that’s a real thing then? Private houses, I mean?”

“Well yeah, of course. I’m only at my public house when I need to be seen or photographed or something. Zayn has one too.”

“Wow, that is incredible. How do you know that I wouldn’t sell your address? I bet I could make a killing off it.” Louis smirked at Harry, the mood surrounding them feeling lighter now.

“I trust you, you wouldn’t do that. You carried my first born and didn’t tell me, I highly doubt you’d be the type of person to expose my secrets, Louis.”

“Point made and you’re right. I could never do that to you or anyone.”

“So it’s a yes then? You’ll come live with me? I’m not taking no for an answer. I mean what are your other options?”

“I guess, yeah. I was just going to stay on Liam’s couch really, nowhere else to go.” For the first time in so, so long, Louis felt hope. He felt that maybe things could be looking up for him and his kids. Having a safe place for his kids to live was a great start to getting his life back on the right path. “We’ll have to talk about expectations though. I don’t have any money I can give you for rent or whatever. Since I’ll be home with the kids, I can cook and clean and do whatever else you need me to around the house.”

“Yeah, of course. That is totally fine. You have to let me help you out though. I mean, with the kids and what not. Eddie is my son too so please don’t feel that you need to do everything because I can pull my weight with him and his care and of course Mia’s too.”

***

Harry rented a truck that would fit all of Louis’ things in one trip. Liam was riding while Zayn drove it to Harry’s private house.

Louis and Harry had yet to leave the apartment because Harry insisted he be the one to install Eddie’s car seat base into his car. After getting overly frustrated, Harry stepped aside. “I give up, this stupid thing is so bloody complicated.”

Mia giggled as she watched, from her own carseat, while Louis took only a few minutes to install it and snap Eddie into the base.

“I have years of practice, Harry. Don’t take it to heart,” Louis tried to reassure Harry.

On the ride to the house, Mia chatted excitedly with Harry. Asking him all sorts of questions about what the house looked like and if there were other kids around for her to play with, where the nearest park was, even why there was more than one bathroom.

As they pulled up to the large house, Louis could feel a sick feeling start to crawl into his stomach. He was immediately having second thoughts about his decision. Harry’s house was much larger than any other he had lived in. It was modest enough but still the largest one he had ever been in.

By the time Harry had parked his car and Louis had the kids out, Liam and Zayn had already carried in most of Louis’ belongings. Louis handed Harry the car seat and grabbed a box from the back of the truck and followed Harry and Mia inside.

Once inside, the sick feeling didn’t get any better. They walked into an open plan main living space. Everything was neat, tidy, and mostly light in colour. When Louis set the box down, took off his shoes and instructed Mia to do the same, he walked through to the kitchen. Stainless steel appliances, glass stovetop, and a fruit bowl full of bananas.

“Ooooo, Daddy.” Mia squealed with excitement. “I have a banana please?”

“Mia, princess, it is rude to walk into someone else's house and start asking for their food.” Louis corrected Mia on her manners.

“Sorry, Daddy,” Mia said quietly.

“It’s fine, Lou.” He heard Harry say as he set another box on the kitchen island. He reached out and pulled a banana from the bunch and handed it to Mia. “It’s your house now too. What’s mine is yours now so please help yourself.”

“Thank you, Harry. Bananas are my favourites!” Mia smiled at both men.

“Hey Lou, do you know where her box of toys is? I was thinking I could take her to her new room and she could play while we finish unpacking?” 

“I’m not really sure, Harry, it’ll take me a bit to go through them all. She brought her doll though and it should keep her busy until I find it. Eddie will be hungry soon as well.”

Louis watched as Harry turned to Mia and took her hand. “Come on Mia, bring your doll this way and I will show you your new room. What do you think?”

“Yeah!” Mia yelled. “Sorry Daddy, not loud to wake Eddie.”

“Thank you for remembering, princess. Daddy will find your toys and you can play with them, okay?”

“Bye, Daddy.” Mia waved as she left with Harry.

Louis watched the two disappear up a set of stairs off the main room. He walked over to Eddie’s carseat and unbuckled him, carrying him near the pile of boxes Liam and Zayn had neatly stacked. He set Eddie on his back and gave him a rattling toy that always hung from the handle of his seat so he could entertain himself awhile. 

It wasn’t long before Harry was back beside Louis, “How can I help?” he asked as he put his hands in his pockets.

“You don’t need to do anything, we don’t need to bother you more than we already are, Harry.”

“You’re not a bother, Lou. I asked you here because I want you here and I want to help. Before I left I thought we had a good time, I thought we were friends.” Harry’s dimples disappeared with his smile then.

“We did and we were, are…” Louis stumbled on his words. “So much has happened since then, we had only known each other a short time.”

“I know, Lou. I want to help, I want to be your friend. We have to figure this out, we will be co-parenting for the rest of our lives.”

“You’re right, we do and I’m confident we will. I just never had any of this in my plans.” Louis gestured around him, around Harry’s house.

Before either of them could say anymore, a loud, terrifying scream came from up the stairs. Harry immediately bolted for the stairs and took them by twos. Louis picked Eddie up before following Harry in the direction of the scream.

Louis followed Harry to the doorway of a bedroom. He quickly looked around the corner to find Mia sitting in a pile of glass, a broken picture frame, and what looked to be some type of award. Louis was quick to thrust Eddie into Harry’s arms and crouch down to pick up a crying Mia. Once he gave her a look over and found her to be okay, he looked down at the award she had broken then back to Mia.

“Mia Cathleen Tomlinson, explain yourself young lady.” Louis looked directly into her eyes with a stern expression across his face.

“I sorry, Daddy. I not break it.” She sniffled. “My Eddie do it.”

“Mia, Eddie was downstairs with me. He did not break this.”

“My dolly do it, I say no touch but she not listen.” Mia looked up into Louis’ eyes hopefully.

“Do not lie to me. Tell me what happened right now.” Louis said sternly as he set Mia safely down on her feet again and crouched so he could be at her level.

Mia sniffled again and Louis watched a few more tears run down her cheek. She lurched forward and wrapped her arms around Louis. “I sorry, Daddy, I not mean to break it. It looked pretty so I want to see it.”

“We don’t touch things that don’t belong to us. That was something very special to Harry and he can’t get another one.”

Mia started to cry again and hold Louis tighter. “I not mean to, Daddy,” she sobbed.

“I know you didn’t mean to, love, but you did so you need to say sorry to Harry for starters,” Louis told Mia as he gently pushed her off of him so he could look at her face.

Mia walked over to where Harry was still standing in the doorway quietly watching. She tugged on his pant leg so he had to bend down.

“Harry, I sorry I broked your special thing. I not mean to do it.” Mia looked heart broken at what had happened.

“It’s alright, sweetheart, I didn’t really deserve that award anyway. Besides, I have a bunch more so it doesn’t matter,” he replied to her, Eddie still safely in his arms.

“It’s not okay Harry, we’re guests in your house and she needs to learn that it’s not okay to touch things.”

“You’re not my guests, you live here Louis. Please stop saying that.”

Louis mumbled something Harry couldn’t pick up as he walked back over to the mess and began to clean it up.

***

It took a few hours for Louis to unpack the few things he and his kids had. After lunch, Harry said he had to head out and do some errands. Louis put both kids down for a nap now that Mia’s bed was reassembled and made.

Louis spent the time cleaning up from lunch and planning out what he would make for dinner with the ingredients Harry had. He had just finished cleaning up the kids things when he heard Harry come back through the front door.

“Louis,” Harry called loudly. “Lou, come help me will you?”

Louis quickly ran to the door. “Harry, the kids are sleeping. Not so loud, please.”

Harry covered his mouth with one of his hands. “Shit, sorry Lou. I forgot about naps.” He put down a giant box and turned back outside. “Come help me bring this stuff in.”

“What the heck is all this stuff, Harry?”

“It’s for you, well the kids really but it’ll help you out as well I think.”

“Well,” Harry started. “I went to the store to buy a crib for Eddie and the lady there said we would need a changing table and a high chair. I didn’t see any of that here so I figured you needed them.”

“No!” Louis started but was cut off.

“I’m not done. While I was waiting for them to bring up the stuff I found some really cute outfits for him and the lady told me that these sizes should fit based on how old you told me he was. She also picked me out some diapers she thought would be the right size. Then I didn’t want Mia to feel left out so I bought some similar things for her dolls.” Harry gave Louis a huge dimple grin, proud of his purchases.

“I can’t let you do that, Harry. It’s entirely too much and we are making do just fine.”

Harry shook his head. “No, Lou. You can let me do it and you will. He is my son too and my son has been sleeping in a laundry basket. He has never had a crib or a proper changing table. He needs new clothes and I am going to provide for him. I’m going to provide for his sister too and I want to buy her some new clothes as well but didn’t know her size.”

By the time Harry was done ranting about buying things for the kids, Louis was in tears. He wasn’t sure how he would ever be able to repay Harry, he knew how much money Harry had likely just spent.

The two men spent the rest of the afternoon putting together furniture, adding it to Eddie’s new room when they were done.

That night, Louis made supper for everyone and insisted Harry let him clean up as well. After dinner was put away, Louis spent some time reading to his kids before giving them both a bath and putting them to bed.

“Daddy, I sleep with you okay.” Mia stated as Louis gave her a hug and a kiss goodnight.

“No, princess, this is your room and Daddy has his own room now too. You remember it’s the one just down the hall.”

“Too far. Want you close to me so I not scared.”

“Ah, I see. You’re not used to having so much space, are you? I understand that. How about you share Daddy’s bed tonight and tomorrow we’ll move your bed in my room for awhile?”

“Yes please.” Mia beamed with happiness.

With the problem resolved and his daughter now tucked soundly into his bed, Louis went into Eddie’s room to find Harry attempting a diaper change. Rather than make his presence known, Louis just stood in the doorway and watched.

Harry chatted away to Eddie about the thoughts and feelings that had been going through his head since finding out about being a father. Nothing bad or upsetting, they were more a mix between happy, confusion, and the unknown.

“I am sorry that Papa doesn’t really know how to do any of this yet. I hope Daddy will teach me how to be just as good as him.” Louis heard Harry say to Eddie.

Harry had Eddie naked now and Louis watched as he struggled a little to figure out how to put a new diaper on. He got it eventually and continued talking.

“Okay, that could have gone better. Maybe next time you could help Papa out a little and keep still, huh?” Eddie giggled as Harry tickled his little bare belly. “Right, now before you get cold Papa had better find you pajamas. Where did he put them, Eddie?”

Harry then took his hands off of his son and bent over to look through the changing table drawers for something to put on Eddie. When he didn’t find anything, he left Eddie on the table and walked over to the dresser and started opening the drawers.

Louis panicked and ran quickly over to Eddie. His presence must have startled Harry because he jumped and let out a squeak.

“Harry, you can’t leave a baby on top of any surface alone. He could roll over and fall off, hurt himself. It’s dangerous.”

“Oh shit, sorry Louis. I never thought about that. I love kids but I don’t really know much about taking care of them. I guess I’ll need you to hold my hand through this for awhile.”

“Don’t beat yourself up about it too much, Harry. I was here this time and you did a really great job with the diaper.” Louis smiled at Harry as he handed him a pair of pajamas for Eddie.

“Oh, you saw that.”

“Yeah.”

Once Harry successfully had Eddie ready for bed, he turned to Louis. “What do I have to do next?”

“Just put him in his bed and leave him. He is usually good at falling asleep at this time. He still gets up once in the night to eat, that’s the time it’s a struggle to get him to go back down.”

Harry gently placed a kiss to Eddie’s forehead and laid him down in his new crib.

“Sweet dreams, Eddie. Daddy and Papa love you very much.”

Both men made their way back downstairs, Harry insisting on holding the baby monitor. He told Louis that he wanted to be responsible to keep watch of their son until he needed Louis to feed him. Who was Louis to argue?

“Come sit down with me and we can chat.” Harry said to Louis.

“Sure, is there something you want to chat about?”

“Listening to you with the kids today made me realize there is so much I don’t know, about being a father and about my own son. Can I ask you some though questions?”

“Yeah, sure. You deserve to know everything about your son, Harry.”

“Tell me everything, Lou. I want to know how you found out, I want to know about the pregnancy, the birth, the last three months of his life.”

“Okay, I think Liam and Lottie have pictures of it all so we’ll have to ask them to share them with you so you can see, if you want.”

“Yes, of course I want to see. You must have looked so beautiful, belly full with my baby and all.” Harry let out an awkward laugh when he realized what he said might have been a bit on the inappropriate side.

“No, I was huge and miserable near the end actually,” Louis was honest.

Louis spent the next hour or so telling Harry about the day he threw up in the cafe and Georgia had told him she was sure he was pregnant and showed him the picture of the two of them in bed together to prove her point. He told Harry the roller coaster of thoughts and feelings he went through during the pregnancy and all of the stories he could remember. Louis told him all the gory details of the birth process and all of the important bits about his sons first three months of life.

Harry sat listening, the facial expressions he wore as Louis spoke told Louis all he needed to know.

“Thank you, Louis. For going through all of that, because of me and for giving me a beautiful baby boy. It wasn’t easy for you and I wish I had been there so that it wasn’t so hard for you. I’m here now though and will make sure the three of you are taken care of.” Harry obviously couldn’t sense the awkwardness Louis was feeling about the later part of that statement as he continued. “It's going to be nice having people around the house. It gets so lonely here by myself. It’s why I planned the tour for an entire year, less time here alone.”

“I wouldn’t know that feeling. I’ve never been alone for more than a few hours before.”

“His name, what’s his full name?” Harry asked as he stilled on the couch.

“Edward William Tomlinson.”

“Oh!” Harry quietly responded.

“Like I said before, I never planned on you finding out so I gave him my last name. Wanted him to grow up the same as Mia and I, you know.”

“I get it, Lou, it’s okay.”

“His birth certificate, it’s blank. I mean the other parent, I didn’t register anything on it so that you wouldn’t be able to find out. It was stupid and I’m really sorry, Harry. I can get it changed, I think it costs a couple hundred so you’ll have to wait until I save enough to..”

Harry interrupted, “I’ll pay for it, he is my son too and you’re doing it for me so don’t even argue. I’d like that though. Maybe we could change his last name to Styles? Don’t answer me now but think about it because it would mean so much if he shared my last name too.”

“Yeah, maybe. I’ll think about it.”

“Can I ask you something else, about Mia this time.”

“I guess, yeah.”

“Her last name is Tomlinson too. How come?”

“When Alex found out I was pregnant, he was furious. He never wanted kids and tried convincing me to get an abortion. I obviously refused so when I had Mia he didn’t want her to have his name or anything to do with her.”

“That must have been so hard, Lou. I’m so sorry you had to go through that.”

“We made it out alright. He never even looked at her until she was almost two months old. He refused to touch me while I was pregnant, told me I looked disgusting. My mum took me to the hospital when I had her. He basically ignored me and Mia for the longest time. Eventually mum convinced me to leave him, that is when I started forcing him to take responsibility for her.”

“Shit, Lou. I never thought it was that bad. I am really sorry you had to go through all of that. What an ass I am for making you go through it twice.”

“Nah, it wasn't your fault, I made that decision. It’s been pointed out that I don’t always make the best choices, I mean it’s how I got to where I am today.”

“I know all of that but it still makes me sad for you, Louis. Can I give you a hug?” Harry seemed hesitant to ask.

“Um, yeah… okay, I guess.” Louis looked around the room shyly.

Harry moved toward Louis and wrapped his arms around him. The perfect squeeze had Louis relaxing into Harry quickly.

Just then, a loud cry came across the monitor. The two men jumped apart, Louis stood up to go see what was wrong with Eddie but Harry held his hand out.

“It’s okay, Lou.” Harry said as he started toward the stairs. “I’ve got it this time, you should relax for once.”

Louis let Harry go without protest and laid his hand back on the couch. He listened as the monitor picked up Harry’s footsteps into Eddie’s room and then he heard rustling. Louis assumed Harry had picked Eddie up because he heard some rustling then nothing for a moment or two. 

“Hey, my little man, what has you up already, huh? I don’t think Daddy is expecting to feed you for another couple of hours.”

Louis couldn’t help but smile as he closed his eyes and listened to Harry talking to their son for the second time that evening.

“Do you like bouncing? Papa has seen lots of people bouncing babies to calm them down.” The cries started back up again. “No, okay that’s fine we won’t bounce. How about swaying, do you like that? You know, Papa doesn’t know much about taking care of babies so you and Daddy will just have to be patient with me.”

After a while, Louis could tell Harry’s patience was wearing thin by the tone in his voice and Eddie showed no signs of stopping. He decided to go help Harry out and teach him how to get Eddie back to sleep.

When Louis got to Eddie’s room, Harry was bouncing and swaying and humming and covering all his bases at once but nothing was working.

“Let me help?” Louis asked from just inside the doorway.

“I’m sorry, Lou, I’ve tried everything I know of but it’s not working.” Harry went to hand Eddie over to Louis.

“You keep him, just sing. He likes it when you sing to him.” Louis could feel his face heating up at what he knew he was about to admit to.

Harry began to sing some kids songs he knew from the kids at his family's Christmas last year. Eddie paused for a moment to listen but started crying all over again.

“It isn’t working, Lou. You just take him.” Harry sounded defeated at this point.

“Sweet Creature, sing Sweet Creature…” Louis blurted out quickly and looked away so he didn’t have to see Harry’s reaction. “It’s his favourite song.”

Without questioning anything, Harry sang the full song and by the time he was done, Eddie was fast asleep in his arms. Harry gently placed Eddie back in his crib and quietly left the room behind Louis.

“His favourite song is Sweet Creature?” Harry asked.

“Yeah, I’m not a total asshole Harry. I may not have planned on you finding out about him but I wanted him to still have a piece of you.”

“That’s sweet, Lou. Thank you for that.”

“Oh shut up, I know it’s dumb. It started one night when he was two weeks old and I couldn’t remember the last time I actually got some sleep. He was fussy and I was worried he was going to wake up Mia. It was the first song that came to mind so I started singing it. Mia knows it too. It just became a thing we did, a special moment between Eddie and I mostly. I found myself playing your album and singing the songs to the kids when I felt lonely. Something about it made me feel like you were here with me again.”

Louis looked over at Harry, he could see tears welling up in his eyes. “Lou, that is both beautiful and sad. I’m glad you could feel some comfort in my music and I’m glad you wanted the kids to have that too. I’m sorry you were lonely and I am so glad you’re here now.”

Harry put his arms out and Louis went into them, wrapping his own arms around Harry as well. The two men hugged for a brief moment until Louis pulled away.

“We should get some sleep, they are early risers. I also have to get up with Eddie in a few hours to feed him. Good night, Harry, and thank you so much for letting us stay with you.”

“It’s no problem, Lou. I love having all three of you here. Good night.”


	19. Chapter 19

Over the next week, Louis and Harry went about getting used to living with each other. Harry enjoyed getting to know his son and Mia while learning how to take on a parenting role. Louis told him he is a natural.

Louis, on the other hand, made sure to do 75% of the parenting still. He also took on the responsibility of doing all the cooking and cleaning. At night before he went to bed, he always did a load of laundry.

It doesn’t matter how many times Harry repeatedly told Louis he didn’t have to do everything, he has even told Louis that he isn’t the maid. Louis still felt that it was the very least he could do to attempt to make up some of what Harry was doing for him and his kids.

When the kids weren’t around, Harry and Louis spent time together awkwardly trying to avoid any conversation about their dating life.

Liam and Zayn had been around to visit a few times since Louis moved in. Both needed to check in on their respective friends, make sure they were doing well and were still happy with the arrangements.

Tonight, Liam and Zayn were over for dinner. They offered to give both kids a bath and get them ready for bed while Harry and Louis tidied the kitchen together.

“Are you still happy with your decision to move us in here?” Louis wondered.

“Yes, of course I am,.” Harry replied. “The kids are such a joy to be around and I love being a dad, thank you for that, Lou.”

“You were kinda half of the equation you know.” Louis giggled timidly. “I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us. Mia and I aren’t really your problem so thank you.”

“Nonsense, Louis. This house is just as much yours as it is mine. Mia is my son’s sister and you are his father so it is important to me to take care of you both. We’re friends aren’t we?” Harry asked.

“Uh, yeah.” Louis wasn’t sure how to respond to that.

He really did want to be Harry’s friend, more than anything. It was just that somehow over the last week Louis seemed to have developed some sort of feelings for Harry. The kind Georgia seemed to think were there all along. When he would watch Harry with the kids, it warmed his heart. Every accidental touch he shared with Harry made him feel warm and gooey inside.

Harry asking if they were friends hurt Louis a little. It stung his heart and he realized that was all Harry felt for him, friends, and he was just going to have to live with that.

“Yeah, we are friends.” Louis answered quietly. “Just like before.”

In no time at all the four men had finished their tasks and met back in the main room. Harry and Zayn immediately took seats on the couch when Louis hesitantly looked at Liam.

“Hey Li, mind if we go up to my room and chat?”

“Sure, lead the way, Louis.” Liam put a hand comfortingly on Louis back as he turned to follow him back up stairs. “It has been awhile since we’ve had some proper time together.”

Once in Louis’ room, Liam shut the door and joined Louis on the bed.

“So, how are things going?” Liam asked.

Louis wasn’t exactly sure what he planned on saying or how he was going to word any of it. He stayed quiet for a moment and twirled the blankets with his fingers.

“Alright, I guess.”

“What do you mean alright you guess? You live with Harry Styles and have his beautiful baby boy, thousands of people would die to be in your shoes, Louis.”

“That’s true, I don’t think of Harry as this famous person, never have really. He said that’s why he liked me in the first place.”

“Enough small talk, I want the dirt. How has it been seeing him again? Have you boys discussed the awkwardness that surrounds you yet?”

“Awkwardness? There isn't any awkwardness around us, we’re just getting used to things.”

“Oh there is and as your friend, it is my job to be here for you and listen to your deepest darkest secrets.”

Louis laughed at that. “Last time I told you my secret you told your boyfriend who just happens to be a friend to my baby daddy.”

“Yeah, I’m really not sorry about that. He didn’t say anything to Harry. Seriously Louis, have you guys had sex again?” Liam looked at Louis and wiggled his eyebrows.

Louis eyes went wide. “Fuck off! No we have not had sex. Who in the bloody hell do you think I am?”

“Hmmm, that’s interesting. Why not?”

“Are you seriously asking me why I haven’t had sex with my friend? Same reason you and I have never had sex Liam, we’re friends.”

“Whatever man, you have a baby together so everyone knows you’ve had sex at least once. What about hand jobs… snogging... kisses...” Louis just shook his head at every suggestion Liam made. “That explains the awkwardness then. I love you Louis but you’re being dumb. You and Harry are good for each other. You need to talk to each other, and not about the kids.”

“We did in the kitchen. He told me we are friends so that’s how he feels. There is no point in me putting myself out there and getting rejected. It’ll make things weird.”

“They’re already weird, Lou. I know you and I can see that you like him. Zayn told me that he likes you too. Maybe he just said you were friends for you to clarify. Maybe he doesn’t want to push you or maybe he’s scared too.”

“Why would he be scared? I’m the one with everything to lose. It’s not like his image will be ruined if I say no.”

“I don’t know, love does silly things. You both really need to talk, like really talk, none of this beating around the bush bullshit.”

“We do talk, mostly at night when the kids go to bed. I will tell you he gives excellent cuddles, that we have done a time or two. He smells amazing too.” Louis smiled.

“Go on, give me the details.”

“A few nights ago we had a serious talk about the kids and Alex and my situation and how I got here. I told him about Mia telling Alex about Eddie and the events that occurred afterwards.”

“Good!” Liam encouraged.

“He said he felt horrible and wishes he’d been there to tell him where to go. Said he would take care of Mia just like Eddie, as far as he’s concerned he is a father of two.”

Liam squealed at that. “That’s so great, Louis.”

“We had a bit of a heart to heart that night. He told me the truth about his so called dating life and how the media has him all wrong. We both cried in the end.” Louis let a little giggle slip past his mouth. “He offered a hug and I accepted, wasn’t the first time either. He loves hugs and gives good ones. They make me melt and he doesn’t seem bothered when I nuzzled into his neck a few times when the kids were sleeping. I couldn’t help myself, it just makes me relax and feel so safe.”

“See, that’s what I’m talking about Louis. When was the last time you and I did that?”

“Like cuddle or hug? You give me hugs all the time.” Louis was confused and couldn’t see where Liam was going with this.

“In all of our years of friendship, you have never once nuzzled into my neck when I’ve hugged you. If you did I’d kick your ass because it would be weird. You both need to stop skirting around each other and talk, figure your shit out.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. It would be weird to do that with you. As far as talking, I don’t even know how we would even approach that subject, Li.”

“Leave it to Zayn and me” Liam said as he stood up and walked across the room.

“See, that worries me when you say that, Liam.” Louis followed Liam back down to join the other two men who looked to be having their own little chat.

***

A few days later, Louis was just putting the finishing touches on the night’s supper while Harry played with the kids. Louis heard the front door open and Mia scream.

“Uncle Lili, you back!” She was always excited to see Liam. “You come to play with Eddie and me?”

Louis turned off all the elements and joined everyone in the main room.

“Oh good, you’re here now.” Liam said as Louis walked into the room. “Don’t be mad at us but Zayn and I have a surprise for you.”

“Liam Payne, I don’t like the tone in your voice, sir. The look in your eye also makes me nervous.” Louis couldn’t lie that he knew his friend well enough to know he had something up his sleeve.

“Mia, princess. Can you go pick some dollies for me and Uncle Zayn to play with too?”

Louis waited for Mia to leave the room before questioning Liam. “We’re calling him Uncle Zayn now?”

“Yes, Tommo, we are so deal with it.”

“But Li..”

“Shut it, Louis, she’ll be back soon so we need to tell you what’s going on.”

“Calm down, babe,” Zayn jumped in. “So we have made arrangements for the two of you to have a date night.”

“Zee, we aren’t dating, you know that right?” Harry looked sideways to Louis before turning back to Zayn and Liam.

“We know,” Liam said. “That’s the problem you see. Let the man finish talking, please.”

“Thank you, sweetheart.” Zayn pressed a kiss to Liam’s lips before continuing. “Anyway, the two of you are going on a date and we are babysitting. We plan on spending the night and will sleep in Louis’ room so no need to rush. Keep in mind that Louis is the only one capable of feeding Eddie though.”

“He has actually started taking a bottle lately, Louis’ got some made up in the fridge.” Harry proudly stated, puffing his chest out.

“That is even better! You both have half an hour to get ready. We’ve made reservations for you and planned a fun outing afterwards. Preston, Paddy, and Alberto will be waiting for you at the restaurant so you won’t have to worry about anything, Harry.”

“Can I ask who they are?” Louis looked at Harry puzzled.

“Some of my bodyguards. You might find it strange to have them lurking around but it’s better if they are. All it takes is one person to recognize me and post online for things to turn into a shit show real fast.”

“Oh.” Louis suddenly felt nervous and more awkward than he had in weeks.

“Well, what are you waiting for? You’d better get ready, both of you,” Liam shouted in their direction as he gave them both a smack on the ass.

***

Harry and Louis were sitting in one of the nicest restaurants in the city. Zayn had ensured they got a table that was a bit secluded from the rest.

“So, Louis, our first date, huh?” Harry said rather awkwardly.

“I guess so.” Louis wasn’t sure that Harry wanted this to be a date. He didn’t like that their friends had set them up like this but decided to make the most of a night out without kids.

“You know, the last time I was out without kids was the night Eddie was conceived.” Louis let out a nervous giggle.

 _Shit_ , he thought to himself, _that was too far. I shouldn’t have said that, it was so stupid. What the fuck is he going to say about that... “I shouldn’t have drank so much.” Or maybe something like “what a mistake, huh?”_

“Hmmm,” Harry cleared his throat, bringing Louis out of his thoughts. “That night was, it was ummm..”

“Sorry, that was stupid. I shouldn’t have said that, Harry. I know you just want to be friends so let’s just have fun, yeah?”

“Actually, Lou, I was going to say that it was a good night. I had fun and hope you did too.”

“Oh.” That certainly caught him off guard. “Yeah, it was a good night.”

“Lou,” Harry started. “Do you think we could just be open and honest with each other? I mean at least for tonight?”

“Sure, what have I got to lose?” Everything, he knew he had everything to lose.

“I like you, Louis, and I have since the day we met. I’ve never said anything out of respect for Mia and Alex. I wasn’t sure if you were completely done with him and I didn’t want to be the one to walk into the middle of something and make it messy.”

“Really?” Louis was shocked. “You really like me?”

“Yeah, why else would I hang with you every chance I got? You should also know that I don’t make a habit of going around and sleeping with every guy that crosses my path.”

“I never thought that, not at all. I just figured that it was a one time thing, that it was the alcohol. I’m glad we met though.” Louis stayed quiet for a brief moment. “I like you too Harry. I always told myself I couldn’t let it happen for Liam's sake. He really is one of your biggest fans and I could never hurt him. I was actually terrified he’d never talk to me again when I told him I was pregnant.”

“He’s a good guy, Liam. He must not mind though, I mean he has Zayn and he set this up for you.”

“You’re right. So where do we go from here?”

“Where my driver takes us I guess,” Harry chuckled.

“Well obviously, but I mean with us. What does this mean for us? Parenting isn’t easy to start with never mind jumping into a relationship with an instant family. You have your career to think about too, and I wouldn't want to hold you back from that.”

“Take it easy, Lou. We’ve had a couple of pretty great weeks together as roommates and co-parenting. I think we don’t tell Mia just yet.”

“You’ve got that right, she can’t know anything until we’re sure, either way.”

“Right, so we stay kid friendly, when they’re around. When they’re sleeping or away we can see where things go?”

“I’d like that. What do we tell Liam and Zayn though, like when they ask what happened tonight.”

“We tell them..” Harry thought for a moment. “We tell them we are trying out the secret boyfriends thing.”

Louis giggled. He was excited, nervous too. He felt like a giddy school girl right now. He honestly couldn’t wait to tell Liam he had a boyfriend. He also knew this wouldn’t likely be an easy relationship.

“I have to warn you now though, Louis. I can guarantee it won’t be easy. My life is crazy and hectic and most days I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m always in the spotlight and in the news. I won’t be offended if you decide it isn’t for you.”

“We’ve just begun, Harry. My life hasn’t been simple either but I have learned that some of the best things are the ones you have to fight for.”

“Well alright then, secret boyfriend, what do you say we get out of here and see what they have planned for us next?”

***

Everyone was thankful that no one at the restaurant had noticed Harry there. Once back in the car, the three body guards sat near the front to give Louis and Harry some privacy.

As soon as the car doors were shut Louis reached for Harry’s hand. Harry tangled their fingers together and smiled over at Louis.

“Thanks, Lou. For trusting me with the kids, for giving me the chance to be a father, and for letting me take care of you.”

Louis smiled back and moved closer to Harry. “Liam will never let me live this down when he finds out. You’re so beautiful, Harry.”

Harry leaned his body toward Louis and placed a soft kiss to the top of his head. “Any idea on what they have us doing next?”

“Not a clue. Just so we’re clear, Harry, I don’t want Mia knowing anything about any of this yet. I mean not until we’re sure if it’ll work. It was hard enough for her when Alex stopped showing up.”

“I understand that, Lou. The kids will always come first, it’s part of being a parent. We’ll have lots of time now though, the two of us.”

“Yeah?” Louis wasn’t sure why he was surprised at that. “Don’t you have to go like go back out and make a new album or do interviews or whatever?”

“Nah, I’m done touring now so I get to do whatever I want really. I mean my manager and record label will need me to put out some new music in the not too distant future, of course, but they know I need a break. They don’t like me to totally disappear when I’m off though so they may ask me to do some charity stuff here and there but that doesn’t usually take up too much of my time really.”

“Wouldn’t want everyone forgetting about Harry Styles I suppose!” Louis didn’t completely understand the inner workings of the entertainment industry but something in his gut told him he was going to find out. “So what else do I need to know about you, Mr. Styles?”

“Well, if things around me stay quiet for too long they get me to do pap walks or set me up to ‘date’ some high profile single girl. I usually get a bit of a say in these things but when all is said and done I have a contract to fulfill.”

“Hmmm, okay. So like, what about us? When we are out in public and when we are comfortable with people knowing about us, what will that look like?” Louis’ stomach did a flip just thinking about how things could possibly go when the media found out about him and Eddie and Mia.

“Let’s not talk about that now. We have time to figure all of that out so lets just enjoy whatever Zayn and Liam have us doing, yeah?” Harry changed the subject quickly.

The car stopped in front of an outdoor skating rink. Louis looked past Harry to see a somewhat busy outdoor skating rink that was absolutely gorgeous. There were trees lining the rink with little lights hanging from side to side. He was too busy looking around to notice one of the security guards had opened the door. He could hear Harry speaking to him but couldn’t make out what he was saying. He felt Harry’s hand tug on his gently.

“Come on, Lou.” He finally realized what Harry was saying. “Let’s go rent some skates.”

“I’ve never been skating before, this should be interesting. You’re going to have to show me how to put them on.”

Louis sat on a bench, with Alberto standing behind him on watch, while Harry went to the booth and rented two pairs of skates. Louis held the pair Harry handed him and watched as Harry expertly pulled his own pair on and laced them up.

“Well, you made that look easy.” Louis laughed as he finally was able to pull his on his feet. “Can you do them up for me please, Harry.”

Harry knelt in front of Louis and quickly tightened his skates up for him. As he stood back up he held his hand out to help steady Louis onto his feet. Louis carefully followed Harry to the edge of the ice and watched as he stepped gracefully onto it and did a quick twirl. 

“Not so bad, see?” Louis couldn’t help but be mesmerized by Harry’s dimpled grin and beautiful curls flowing in the wind. Louis looked nervously at the three giant men that still stood around them both and then back to Harry. “Ah, don’t worry about them. They’ll stay back a bit, give us space. They’ll be close enough to help if they need to but far enough if we don’t.”

“It’s just kind of strange, really. I’m not used to it I guess.” Louis put one foot on the ice and was surprised at how easy it felt.

When Louis put his other foot on the ice and all friction was gone, he felt himself falling. Just before he reached the ground he felt strong arms catch him and right him again. He looked over his shoulder to see Paddy smiling. “Careful, Louis. Take it easy.”

“Thanks.” Louis looked to Harry, “Maybe this isn’t such a good idea, Harry. I can barely stand up.”

“I’ve got you, Lou. I’ll help you, no worries. How about we just take our time and try one loop. See how it goes and then if you don’t like it we can leave?” Harry said as he wrapped his arms around Louis in order to hold him up right as they started taking small steps forward.

It took quite a while but Louis eventually made it all the way around the ice. Harry had to hold him up the whole time of course, but Louis didn’t mind that at all.

“You did it, one lap. How do you feel?” Harry asked as they stopped where they had started.

“Accomplished actually. It wasn’t as bad as I thought but I’m not sure that I can do that without you holding me up.” Louis couldn’t help but smile, he really was having fun.

“I don’t mind, Louis. Do you want to go again or do you want to leave?”

“My feet are starting to hurt so I think I’ll stay here and take these off. I’d really like to just watch you though, go on.” Louis nudged Harry to go around again, this time by himself.

Louis watched Harry skate away, expertly, until he could no longer see him. Then he went back to the bench where they left their shoes and took his skates off. Paddy and Preston were walking around the outside of the ice surface, keeping their eyes on Harry while Alberto stayed with Louis.

When Louis reached down to grab his shoes he didn’t see Harry’s. He put his on anyway, figuring they must have been shoved further under the bench. When his own shoes were tightly back on his feet he bent down to take a look for Harry’s shoes but couldn’t find them anywhere.

“Alberto,” Louis turned to the body guard that was nearby. “I can’t find Harry’s shoes, they are gone.”

“Seriously?” Alberto came over and searched again with Louis but they still couldn’t find them.

“There,” Louis surprised Alberto by shouting. He pointed to a group of giggling girls who had their phones. It looked as though they were taking pictures of Harry’s shoes. One of the girls held them in her hands and had a big grin on her face while her friends stood around with their phones directed toward her. “That girl took Harry’s shoes, Alberto.”

Without thinking about it, Louis stood up and took off toward the group of girls. He didn’t make it very far before he felt strong arms reach around him and pull him back.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Alberto asked. “You can’t just go up to them, you’ll start a bloody riot. One thing you need to know if you’re going to be out in public with Harry is that you can’t do anything to draw too much attention, it makes things go bad real quick.”

“Well we can’t just stand here and watch those girls take off with his shoes now can we?” Louis said sternly.

“We won’t but you won’t be doing anything. Please just go back to the car and wait there. I’ll let the other guys know what happened so they can have Harry meet you in the car before there is a big scene. Then I will go get his shoes back.”

“Fine, see you later.” Louis felt defeated but knew there wasn’t much else he could do. He also knew if he were safely tucked away in the car that Alberto wouldn't have to worry about him. After all, this is what they were paid to do.

After what felt like an hour, Louis could see Harry walking back to the car. He had both his shoes on his feet and the three body guards following along closely behind him.

“Sorry about that, Louis,” Harry said a bit out of breath once he was seated back in the car and the door shut.

“Why are you sorry?” Louis wondered. “You didn’t do anything.”

“Just sorry I took so long. Alberto went to get my shoes back and the girls went crazy. They just wanted a pic and an autograph. I told him it was okay so they settled down a bit. It all went well until I went to leave and the one girl started crying. I went back for a cuddle and got her to stop. They all went away happy and that was that. Sorry.”

“It’s all part of the job I guess.” Louis half smirked. He didn’t, after all, really know what it was like. “You’re here now and you’re safe and that’s all that matters.”

“What do you say we head home now, huh?” Harry looked at the time. “Kids should both be sleeping and the guys should be in bed too, if they know what's good for them.”

“Sounds good to me, I could use a nice hot shower right about now.”

“That does sound nice. You can use my shower while I make us some tea and a snack?”

“Perfect way to end the day I’d say. I’ve had a good time tonight, Harry. You’re a really interesting guy and I’d forgotten how fun you could be.” Louis leaned into Harry’s side as they entangled their fingers again.

“I had a good night too. I’ve missed you. You are so refreshing, like a breath of fresh air and that is just what I need. I thought about you quite a bit you know, on tour. At night when everyone was finally gone and I was alone, those were the times I wish I could have called you or something.”

After both Harry and Louis had had hot showers to warm themselves up and put on boxers with clean shirts to sleep in, Harry asked Louis to sit with him on his bed. “Come on Lou, sit with me. I brought tea and a plate of fruit for us.”

Louis smiled at the sweet gesture and sat across from Harry on the bed. “So, Hazza… can I call you Hazza?”

“Yeah, you can call me whatever you want, Lou.” Harry smiled at Louis and handed him a slice of apple.

“Tell me, what do secret boyfriends do exactly?” Louis giggled a little while still being serious at the same time. He wondered about the details of their new arrangement.

“Well, I think we should keep it between us for now. So much of my life is public and when it’s out there it’s out there. I’d like to just have some time to enjoy getting to know each other, the two of us, you know.”

“I get that, it must be hard for you though. I can’t imagine what it is like to not even be able to leave your house some days without the whole world wanting to know or having to bring bodyguards with you.”

“I guess it’s just all I know really. I came into this at a young age and grew up in it so I don’t know anything different. That is why I want to keep you to myself for a little while, until we are both ready.”

“That’s fair. The kids are obvious to me, like not getting them wrapped up in any of this. Mia is still so young and has a hard time understanding anything of what is going on really. What about Liam and Zayn? You don’t want to tell them either? I tell Liam everything, other than sleeping with you… that took awhile.” Louis looked down at his tea sheepishly at that last statement.

“I don’t know, I mean it’s just more fun to figure things out between just us at first. Not forever. I just think we tell them we talked about us and plan to keep the communication going. It’s not a lie and quite frankly, that is what we are doing. We just don’t give them a title to work with.” Harry reached down and put a piece of banana into his mouth.

“Seems like a good plan and you’re right, we aren’t lying. What about between us though? When we are alone, of course.” Louis felt his cheeks heat up and knew he was blushing. All he really wanted to do was kiss Harry, but he felt like that might be rushing things a little too quickly.

“Whatever feels right, Lou. If it’s too much we tell each other, if we want more we say so. Just open and honest communication, that is all I am asking from you at this point.” Harry drank the rest of his tea and leaned backward to set his empty cup on the bedside table.

As he leaned back, Louis watched as his shirt lifted just enough that he caught a glimpse of Harry’s laurel tattoos. His breath caught and his eyes wandered quickly back up to Harry’s face, worried that he might get caught staring.

“Umm” Harry started. “I’m going to have to start going back to work in a week or so. I have some meetings that are being set up for me to meet with my team. I’ll let you know when they are as soon as I find out myself.”

“Okay, I guess you have to go back to work eventually, right?” Louis hoped he hadn’t sounded too disappointed at the thought of already losing Harry to work. They just started getting to know each other and really being comfortable with their living situation.

“It’s not like that, Lou. They are just meetings about plans for the future and what not. We’ll talk about some goals for another album and whether I’ll tour then. Different radio stations do some benefit type stuff and other events throughout the year, we will talk about whether or not it would be in my best interest to attend or sing or whatever. Sometimes they have offers on the table for me for TV show appearances or something to ask me about. It’s not like I’m really going back to work, I will still be writing songs though if the mood strikes.” Harry leaned forward and gently stroked Louis’s bare ankles.

“Oh, well that’s good news. I was hoping you would have some time to hang out around home with the kids and me. Eddie sure loves you already, that isn’t a surprise though. You start baking with Mia and you’ll have her in no time.” Louis yawned and gave Harry a sleepy smile.

“What about you, Lou? What is the way to your heart?”

“I haven’t figured that out yet, it’s always been about the kids for me so I guess if you win them, you win me too.” Louis yawned again.

“I’ll keep that in mind!” Harry leaned across the dishes on the bed, closing the space between them. 

Before Louis knew what was happening, he felt Harry’s lips on his for a brief moment. A little peck before they were gone again. Louis yawned once more and laid his head on one of Harry’s pillows. He pulled the duvet up over his body and laid on his side, looking at Harry.

“What do you think we should do with the kids tomorrow?” Louis quietly asked. He was just going to lie down for a few moments before heading to sleep on the couch for the night.

“I was thinking we should paint Mia’s new room for her. Maybe we can all go to the store and get her excited about her new room so she’ll let you have yours to yourself.”

“That’s a good idea, Harold. Maybe if she picks a colour and helps us paint, she’ll want to sleep there. I can’t afford paint though.” Louis looked down at where he was wrapping his fingers around the sheet of the bed.

“I’m going to buy the paint, I want Mia to be able to choose how she wants her new room to be decorated.” Harry puffed his chest out, he looked like a proud dad with his idea.

“You know you don’t have to though, right?”

“I want to, what is the use in having all this money if I can’t spoil someone?”

“Just be warned that if you let her pick she will likely choose something pink or purple and very sparkly with a huge touch of Avengers. They are still her favourite.” Louis laughed, thinking back to the concert he went to with Liam, the night he bought Mia underwear.

Harry thought for a moment, “I have the best idea to surprise her with. Since Zayn is here anyway, maybe we could convince him to do a mural on the wall for her. Imagine her little face if she were to walk into her new room and see a full wall of the Avengers characters! What do you think, Lou?”

Harry hadn’t noticed but while he was excitedly talking about Mia’s room, Louis had fallen asleep. He looked so beautiful laying on Harry’s pillow with the duvet tucked nice and snug around his body.

Knowing how tired Louis was all the time due to having a baby, he didn’t have the heart to move him. Instead he decided that it would be alright if he just let him sleep there for the night. Harry cleared their dishes off the bed and found a blanket that was tossed over a chair and laid himself on top of the duvet on the other side of the bed, opposite Louis. He covered himself up with the blanket he found and let himself drift off to sleep as well.


	20. Chapter 20

Over the next couple of weeks, Louis and Harry happily kept their secret. They shared long conversations when the kids were sleeping, small touches or hand holding whenever they were close and the kids were otherwise occupied, knowing smiles across the table at meal times, and many pecks or small kisses goodbye or goodnight.

Things were going extremely well for them. They weren’t ready to tell their friends or the kids yet, but they made the most of the time they did have together. Louis had been really impressed at how much Harry had stepped up in caring for both kids. He had been learning so quickly, just like any parent does on a daily basis.

One night after Harry had put the kids to bed and read Mia four stories, he found Louis folding laundry.

“Lou, you don’t have to fold my laundry, love,” Harry said in his slow drawl.

“I don’t mind. I do everyone else’s anyway so why not yours too.”

“That’s my underwear though.” Harry quickly went over and snatched them out of Louis’ hand.

Louis smirked over his shoulder at Harry. “I know.” He wiggled his eyebrows up and down.

“You little shit.” Harry called out as he dropped the underwear in his hands and tickled Louis until he managed to squirm away from him.

“You’re gonna make me pee, Haz.” Louis was still laughing as he ran out of the room and down the hall to get away from Harry.

“I’m coming for you and I will get you.”

“What are you going to do with me if you catch me?” Louis asked from behind Harry’s closed bedroom door.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Harry giggled. “Did you just say if? I will have you know that I will catch you.”

After closing the bedroom door Louis ran around the bed and crouched on the other side so Harry wouldn’t be able to see him immediately. 

“Louis, you’re just as bad as the kids. I know you’re hiding behind my bed.” Harry stated as he slowly walked across his room and around his bed.

When Louis heard Harry’s footsteps getting really close, he stood up. “Please Hazza, no more tickles.”

Louis held his hands up in front of himself to try and stop Harry from getting closer. It didn’t actually do anything though because Harry walked right over to Louis and grabbed hold of him by his waist. Harry picked him up and put him over his shoulder, smacking his ass just enough to make a satisfying sound and carried Louis out of the room and down the hall.

“Where are you taking me? Put me down.” Louis squealed when they reached the bottom of the stairs and were out of earshot of the kids.

“Just remember, you asked for it, Lou.” Harry said as he gently tossed Louis onto the couch.

Louis laughed as he landed on his back. “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Kiss me?” Louis asked softly.

Before Louis could take another breath, Harry was laying down on top of him. “I thought you’d never asked.”

Harry connected their lips and for the first time they shared a real kiss. Louis closed his eyes and let himself get lost in the softness of Harry’s lips. He felt Harry’s hands grip his cheeks, holding him.

Louis moved his hands around Harry’s body, letting them settle on his back. It was as though everything around them stilled and the only sound that could be heard was the smacking of their lips. Louis heard Harry let out a moan, this prompted Louis to open his mouth in hopes Harry would take his cue. He did and he quickly slipped his tongue inside Louis’s mouth before Louis made circles with his tongue around Harry’s.

Harry’s tongue felt so soft and warm against his own. Louis gripped tighter around Harry’s back, stopping his hands from wandering down to Harry’s ass. He had the urge to feel it, squeeze it even but didn’t want to push things too far too soon. Instead, he concentrated on how good it felt to kiss him.

Louis couldn’t help but feel how well they seemed to meld together. How gentle Harry was and how his hands softly ran through Louis’ hair as their tongues continued to lick into each other’s mouths.

The two men were so caught up in each other that they didn’t hear the front door open and Liam and Zayn come bounding into the room.

“Shit… fuck.” They heard Zayn’s voice.

“We’re sorry, we’ll leave.” Liam said as he tried to drag Zayn back out of the house.

Harry was quick to jump off of Louis and stand on his feet. Louis just sat up and grinned at Liam after he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

“Hey, no it’s all good,” Harry started awkwardly. “What are you guys doing here?”

“Look, we’re really sorry we interrupted. We had no idea you guys were like…” Zayn paused and made a motion between Harry and Louis.

“We wanted to keep things private, between us for awhile until we figured it out.” Louis quickly filled the briefly silent air.

“Lou, you tell me everything. You know I wouldn’t have written about it or sold the story,” Liam looked hurt.

“Zee, help us out…” Harry started pleading. “You know what it can be like when the media finds out. We just wanted to have something for us for awhile.”

“I know, Harry and I understand.” Zayn smiled and gave Harry a pat on the back. “So you guys are now officially…” Zayn pauses midway through.

“Dating, boyfriends?” Louis offered as suggestions. “Yes, we are BUT we don’t want anyone to know, especially the kids.”

“Fair enough.” Liam said.

“Fucking,” Zayn spoke up. “I was going to say fucking.”

Liam giggled while Harry and Louis both gasped.

“No.” Both Harry and Louis said at once, both equally as offended.

“Well you have at least once,” Zayn egged them on.

“You don’t know that.” Harry put his hands on his hips in defence.

“Actually,” Liam put on his smartass attitude. “Eddie tells us you did!”

“He also told us that Harry liked it,” Zayn managed to say through laughing.

“Fuck off, the both of you. I don’t know why you came over but you can both promptly let yourself out the same way you got in.” Louis jumped before it could go any further. “Get out of our house.”

Harry was quick to go stand beside where Louis was now pointing in the direction of the door and wrapped his arms around him. “Our?” he questioned. “You said our house, Lou!” Harry sounded so happy.

He showed how happy that made Louis by leaning in and kissing him again. This time it was harder and more passionate.

“That’s our cue, Zee,” Louis heard Liam say as he heard their footsteps leave the room.

As soon as he heard the front door close, he pulled slightly away from Harry. “That was so embarrassing, Haz.”

Harry giggled and placed another tiny kiss to Louis lips. “Come on, babe, how about we go get some sleep. Our munchkins will be up before we know it and I have a day full of meetings tomorrow.”

***

The next day, Louis woke up in such a great mood. He shared a lovely breakfast with his family of four followed by some playtime.

Just after lunch Harry apologized that he had the day full of meetings about decisions and deadlines for upcoming projects. Louis made sure he didn’t leave without a kiss.

As soon as Harry had left, Louis decided he wanted to do something special for Harry and settled on making a nice dinner for the two of them to enjoy together after the kids went to bed.

He spent nap time prepping for the meal, stuffing mozzarella inside the chicken and wrapping it with parma ham. He decided the mash could wait for later and ended up cleaning the house a little.

Mia was the first to wake so she helped Louis make apple crisp for their dessert. When Eddie woke up just a little later, the three went outside to play.

Louis held onto Eddie’s hands as he slowly took a few steps toward his sister. Mia running around the backyard chasing a neighbourhood squirrel and giggling loudly.

Eddie babbled away, as he usually did. Louis listened contently and agreed or asked for more details during the brief pauses.

Soon enough, Louis’ back started aching so he set his son down on his bum and started walking toward Mia. That’s when Louis heard one of the best things he had ever heard.

“Dada!” Eddie yelled.

“Oh my goodness, my little man,” Louis said quickly going back over to his son. “Yeah, that’s me Dada. Can you say it again?”

“Dada,” Eddie said again.

Louis quickly pulled out his phone and called Harry, at the off chance he would pick up, he didn’t. Disappointed, Louis opened the camera and started recording a video as he encouraged Eddie to say it again.

“Dada,” Eddie said once more.

“That’s my boy. I love you so much, little man.” Louis gave his son a kiss as he stopped the video and put his phone away again.

***

Once Louis finally put both kids to bed that night, he went back down to the kitchen to finish preparing the meal he had carefully put together to surprise Harry.

He picked up his phone to see if he’d missed a call or a text while he was with the kids but he didn’t. He put his phone back on the counter and pulled two plates and two wine glasses out of the cupboard.

The table looked perfect, he dished two plates out and set them on the table beside two glasses of wine. He had even set out a candle to light when Harry got home, to add an extra flare of romance.

Even though he still hadn’t heard from Harry, Louis sat in a chair, staring out the window as he waited for Harry to get home.

It was already later than Harry had thought he’d be home but Louis was sure Harry wouldn’t be too much longer.

Louis sat, staring out the window for so long he ended up falling asleep.

The next thing Louis knew, he was being jostled awake by Harry.

“Hey, babe,” Harry said softly. “I am so sorry I’m late, especially after you went to all this trouble for what looks like a great meal.”

“Whatever.” Louis said, rather unimpressed that he hadn’t been made aware that Harry was running late.

“Not whatever, Lou. I am sorry. It looks like you didn’t eat, were you waiting for me?”

“Course, I don’t make nice romantic meals to eat alone,” Louis snapped back as he stood from his chair.

“Crap, I guess I should have called to say I was going to be late. I didn’t even look at my phone for most of the day.”

“Well that is obvious.” Louis spat with frustration and anger. “Oh yeah, here.”

Louis opened his phone and brought up the video from earlier and tossed it to Harry then walked out of the room.

“I’m going to bed,” was all that Louis said.

Louis made a stop in the bathroom to relieve himself, brush his teeth, and wash his face before heading to his room. He had only pulled off his shirt when there was a knock on his bedroom door.

“Yeah?” Louis called.

“Please, can I come in?” Harry said very quietly.

“Yeah.”

Harry opened the door and walked across the room so he was standing in front of Louis. Harry put his hands on Louis’ waist and gently turned his body so they were facing each other.

“I know I messed up, Lou,” Harry started. “I am so sorry about dinner, it looks amazing and I’m starving so I hope you’ll come down and eat with me. I am also so sorry I didn’t answer so I could hear Eddie’s first words. That actually makes me sad.”

“Me too,” was all Louis could think of to say.

“Come back downstairs and eat with me, Lou. I’ll heat it up for us.” Harry looked like he was begging.

“Fine but only because I’m starving.” Louis agreed while protesting at the same time.

Harry picked a nice shirt out of Louis closet and threw it to him to put on before leaving the room.

By the time Louis was back downstairs, Harry had reheated their food and lit the candle that was still on the table. 

Neither one spoke as they ate, both hungry enough to quickly devour the food on their plates.

“That was so good, Lou. Makes me even more sorry I wasn’t here while it was still hot the first time,” Harry said rubbing his stomach.

“Serves you right,” Louis smiled. “But thank you.”

“Let me make it up to you, please Lou?” Harry pleaded.

“What do you have in mind?” Louis sat up straighter in his chair, not knowing where Harry’s brain was taking them.

Just then there was a brief knock on the door before it opened.

“We’re here, stop making out because we are coming in,” a familiar voice was heard just before Liam and Zayn walked into the room.

“That was fast.” Harry smiled as he stood up to greet their friends.

“What are you both doing here?” Louis questioned.

Harry grabbed a hold of Louis’ hand. “Come on, let’s go dancing.”

Louis followed as Harry guided him through the front door and to a waiting car. Once they were inside, Harry told Louis he was taking him to a club to have some fun. Harry told Louis that he just wanted Louis to have a good time, that was it.

“You know, Harry, the last time you took me out just to have a good time we ended up back at my place making Eddie.”

***

It was late when they got home that night, Harry practically holding Louis up.

“Hazza,” Louis stumbled drunkenly through his words. “I can’t remember now what I started off the night upset with you, can you remind me?”

“No, I certainly will not,” Harry laughed.

Louis was given strict instructions to go to Harry’s room as quietly as he could because Harry had to use the bathroom. The problem, however, was that Louis didn’t trust himself to walk down the hall and not fall over or bang into the wall. He thought it best if he got down on his hands and knees and crawled.

Halfway down the hall Louis had thought he must look like a cat crawling down the hall like this so he started to purr. By the time he made it into Harry’s room, Harry was right behind him.

Harry stopped inside the room and shut the door behind himself.

“Lou,” Harry said quietly. “What the hell are you doing?”

Louis remained a cat and crawled over to Harry, rubbing his body against Harry’s legs.

“Get up, Louis.”

“Cat’s can’t talk, Harry, don’t be silly.” Louis sat on his feet, watching as Harry threw his arms up in the air.

“Alright, if you’re a cat then you get to sleep on the floor,” Harry said as he took his shirt off, pulled down his pants and threw his clothes into the hamper.

“I’m not sleeping on the bloody floor, Harold, don’t be ridiculous,” Louis huffed as he made his way to the bed and crawled up, finally laying his head on a pillow.

As Louis lay there, he felt the bed dip beside him and Harry appeared.

“Lift your hips.” Harry patted the sides of Louis’ waist.

Once Harry had Louis in his boxers, he made a move to lay down beside Louis.

“That’s it?”

“What’s it, Lou?”

“You’re just going to leave me in my boxers?”

“Yes, now go to sleep, Louis.” 

Louis rolled on his side, facing Harry. “I will not simply go to sleep, Harold. You’ve got me drunk and nearly naked in your bed. This is the part where you take advantage and have your way with me.” Louis did his very best serious face.

Harry laughed, “I’m not going to have my way with you, Louis. Don’t you remember what happened last time we were drunk and had sex?”

“We have the most beautiful son to show for it.” Louis was very proud of his response.

“Exactly, now go to sleep.”

“Fine.” Louis huffed as he lay back down. “I am horny though and almost hard . Guess I’ll just take care of myself.”

With that said, Louis reached one of his hands into his boxers and wrapped a hand around himself. He looked sideways at Harry and when he didn’t see any movement he started stroking up and down. Nothing was happening as quick as Louis had wanted it to, so he stroked faster.

“Louis Tomlinson, that is so rude and makes things very awkward when you masturbate while sharing a bed with someone. Stop it right now,” Harry demanded. “Besides, you’re likely too drunk to get it up anyway.”

“Whatever, Harold.” Louis gave up in defeat and rolled onto his side, away from Harry.

Soon enough, Louis could hear Harry’s breath even out and he knew Harry was asleep. Louis gave up all fight and closed his eyes, falling asleep as well.

***

**Harry**

“Good morning, beautiful,” Harry softly whispered in Louis’ ear.

He placed gentle kisses down Louis’ neck and across the back of his shoulder. Softly moving his hands around Louis’ body and pulling him toward himself.

“Stop yelling, my head is pounding,” Louis grumbled as he started stirring from his sleep.

Harry patiently waited quietly until Louis rolled onto his back and opened his eyes.

“I love waking up next to you, Lou. You should sleep here every night,” Harry suggested.

“I’m sorry, H, I can’t function right now. I’ve got a hangover.”

“I’m sure you do,” Harry quietly giggled as he got out of bed.

Harry pulled on some joggers and a hoodie, walking back over to the bed and pulling the duvet back over Louis. He bent down and placed a kiss to Louis’ temple.

“You sleep, my love, I’ll bring you water and Advil before letting Liam and Zayn go home. You should sleep it off for a couple hours and I’ll take care of the kids.”

“You sure? I can push through it,” Louis started as he sat up in bed.

“No, Lou,” Harry placed a gentle hand on Louis’ shoulder to stop him from getting up. “They’re my kids too and, as your boyfriend, I want to take care of you. That means you are staying in bed and getting some rest without feeling guilty.”

Harry heard Louis sigh before he laid back down and closed his eyes.

Harry closed the bedroom door shut after delivering Advil and a bottle of water to the bedside table.

He easily followed the sound of giggling to the table where he found his friends and his children just sitting down to eat breakfast.

“Morning, Harry,” Mia shouted with joy.

“Hazza, we didn’t think we’d see you for another few hours. You boys have a good time?” Zayn asked, handing Eddie his plate of cut up pancakes and fruit.

“Uh, yeah, we had a great time. Louis had a bit too much fun and I told him to stay in bed.” Harry grabbed a plate for himself and took a seat.

“You’re a bad influence on him, Harry. I couldn’t get him to go out with me since he had Mia.” Liam pokes Harry with his fork.

“I’m just more fun than you is all. Actually, I wanted to let you know that you boys are good to go after you’re done breakfast. I can handle these two on my own.” Harry began eating his breakfast.

“Look at you, Daddio,” Zayn teased.

“Nope, that Harry,” Mia paused for a moment and scrunched up her face like she was thinking. “Daddy says my brother’s gonna call Harry Papa… I already had a Papa but he leaved.”

“You are so right, smarty pants.” Liam gives Mia a big grin.

Liam and Zayn left right after breakfast was over. Mia helped Harry clear the table and washed up a few dishes while Eddie happily played in his high chair.

“Thank you for helping me do the dishes, Mia.” Harry gave Mia a quick hug.

“Harry, you play Eddie and me?” Mia tilted her head as she asked.

“I’d love to,” he lifted Eddie out of his chair. “Would you like to go for a walk together, let daddy sleep for a bit?”

“Okay,” was all Mia said before running to the front door to find her shoes.

As they were getting ready, Harry called for one of his bodyguards to accompany them. He wasn’t willing to risk something happening to the kids.

They returned home a while later with shopping bags. Harry took the kids to the store to buy some craft supplies.

“Harry, we paint, please?” Mia excitedly threw her coat on the ground.

“Just as soon as you pick up your coat. Your Daddy doesn’t like it when you leave it on the floor like that.”

Mia was quick to pick up her coat and put it away.

First, Harry set Eddie up at the table beside him with paper and a few crayons. He then opened the new paints and handed Mia a brush for each colour.

They happily painted and chatted about favourite colours and foods. They even spoke about what letter everyone’s names start with.

Eddie started to grow fussy and Harry knew he’d had enough.

“I’m just going to get your brother ready for a nap, Mia. You stay here and keep painting, okay?” Harry told her.

“I have another paper first?” she asked as Harry got up from the table.

Mia settled with a brand new piece of paper and Harry made his way to Eddie’s room. Harry sang softly as he changed Eddie’s smelly diaper and put him in his crib.

“You have a good nap, my little man. Papa loves you so much,” Harry blew him a kiss as he left the room.

Back downstairs Mia had completely filled the paper with paint. He could easily tell she was done because she had started carrying the leftover paint to the sink.

“Careful there, let me help you,” Harry jogged to help Mia clean up their crafting mess.

As soon as everything was clean once again, Mia asked Harry if they could talk on the couch.

“What is it you wanted to talk about?” Harry questioned.

“I ask you something?” Mia looked unsure, playing with her hands just as her dad often did.

“You can always ask me anything, Mia,” Harry tried to reassure her.

“You my Harry, right?”

“Yes.”

“You Eddie’s Papa?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Mia stopped for a moment and Harry sat, just watching her. He gave her the time she needed to collect her thoughts and say what she wanted.

“Why you not my Papa too?”

“Well,” Harry wasn’t sure how he should answer that question, “You already have a Papa, love.”

“But he lefted and you are a better Papa for Eddie. I want you to be my Papa too,” she looked up at Harry with the biggest blue eyes that were just like her Daddy’s.

“Ahhh,” Harry was speechless and could feel the tears threatening to fall. “I would love to be your Papa, you can call me Papa if you want, hun.”

Mia smiled the biggest smile and leaped into Harry’s arms. Before their hug was over Harry could hear a sniffle coming from the stairs. He turned his head to find Louis standing at the bottom of the stairs with tears in his eyes too.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed reading this, if so leave a kudos and a comment about what you liked.
> 
> Epilogue coming soon, subscribe to make sure you get notified.
> 
> Head over and check out my [Tumblr](https://beanno28.tumblr.com/) and follow me for more fics comming soon. Feel free to check out more of my fics [here](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beanno28/works).
> 
> Another reminder to check out [Marie](https://p-a-s-m-w-a.tumblr.com/) and more of her art work.


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